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Court opens trial for Golkar saga
The West Jakarta Court opened on Tuesday the first hearing of a trial on an internal dispute between two factions of the Golkar Party
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The West Jakarta Court opened on Tuesday the first hearing of a trial on an internal dispute between two factions of the Golkar Party.
Embattled Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie filed a lawsuit against a splinter group led by Agung Laksono, which had claimed a party national congress held in Bali was illegal.
Calling itself the Presidium of the Golkar Party's Saviors, Agung's camp later held another national congress in Jakarta, which named him party chairman.
The legal path was taken by Aburizal's camp following a deadlock in reconciliation efforts between the two camps.
In his lawsuit, Aburizal accused Agung of violating the party's internal rules of association by calling the Bali congress illegal.
According to Article 33 of the 2011 Law on Political Parties, internal party disputes can be settled at a local court, which is ordered to resolve the case within 60 days. An appeal of the court verdict can only be submitted to the Supreme Court, which is mandated to settle the case in 30 days.
'The civil trial of Aburizal Bakrie against the Presidium of the Golkar Party's Saviors is open to the public,' said presiding judge Oloan Harianja as quoted by okezone.com.
Opposition against Aburizal increased after Golkar failed to win the April 9 legislative election. Resistance grew stronger following Aburizal's decision to support the unsuccessful presidential bid of the Gerindra Party's Prabowo Subianto, which landed the party outside the government for the first time in the party's 50-year history. (***)
