Golkar, the second largest party in the country, will hold its national congress in Jakarta on Dec. 3 to 5 where it will elect a new chairman and discuss several items on its political agenda.

Both Bambang and Airlangga have accused each other of violating the agreement they made before Bambang was elected MPR speaker for the 2019 to 2024 legislative term.

Both also claim to have secured the majority of the party’s support. There are a total of 559 votes in the Munas, consisting of 514 regencies (DPD II), 34 provinces (DPD 1), 10 mass groups under Golkar and one vote from the central executive board (DPP).

“Golkar executives in 33 out of 34 provinces have declared their support for the incumbent,” Airlangga said at a dinner meeting in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Present at the dinner meeting were a number of Golkar politicians, including secretary-general Lodewijk Freidrich Paulus, Youth and Sports Minister Zainudin Amali, Yahya Zaini, Nurul Arifin, Rizal Mallarangeng, Meutya Hafid and Happy Bone Zulkarnain.

Airlangga said he would try to win the election with unanimous support but that if Bambang continued with his candidacy and no consensus was reached, there would be a vote.

On the same day, Bambang’s camp held a press conference at The Sultan Hotel in Senayan, Central Jakarta. Bambang was not present at the event.

Bambang recently claimed he had secured 367 votes from the DPD II and several mass groups in Golkar, including Pemuda Pancasila and the Communication Forum of Indonesian Veterans’ Children (FKPPI).

He believed the support he received was “a strong call for change”, saying party members “hope to see progress in the Golkar Party in 2024”.

Although Bambang has not yet openly declared his candidacy, he is said to be challenging Airlangga because of his supporters’ claim that Airlangga had neglected certain conditions in their agreement.

Bambang’s campaign team leader, senior Golkar politician Ahmadi Noor Supit said on Wednesday that Bambang had not given up the race even though he had been elected MPR speaker. During his inauguration, Bambang thanked Airlangga for supporting him for the position.

Ahmadi accused Airlangga of violating the terms of the agreement by failing to give Bambang’s supporters key positions in the House of Representatives’ commissions and bodies. Airlangga has reportedly removed Bambang’s supporters from the party’s national congress committee.

“There was indeed an agreement between both of them, but Bambang had proposed some conditions, which had been noted and accepted by Airlangga. But he [Airlangga] did not implement any of them. That is like a default in business,” Ahmadi said.

Ahmadi argued that Bambang had forged his own way to the MPR speaker post and he did not owe anything to Airlangga. He said Bambang had President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s blessing to occupy the position. “Airlangga initially wanted Azis Syamsuddin to be in the position, not Bambang,” he said.

However, Airlangga supporters denied that he had violated the agreement, saying that Bambang was the one who had violated it after getting the MPR speaker post. “How come Airlangga violated the agreement? The one who benefited from the agreement was Bambang,” Golkar executive Ahmad Doli Kurnia said.

Golkar executive and Airlangga supporter Dave Laksono said some members were indeed removed from the Munas committee but only because they were inactive. “So it’s only natural to annul them, but there are still many of Bambang’s supporters in the committee. We’re fair,” he said.

Dave added that the selection of Golkar members for leadership positions in the House’s commissions and bodies could happen at any time as they were not permanent positions. “If they couldn’t get it now, that doesn’t mean they will not get it at all.”

Indonesia Political Review executive director Ujang Komarudin said that regardless of who is elected the next Golkar leader, Golkar would still be part of the government coalition.

Bambang’s supporters, however, want to distance the party from the government. Bambang has also promised the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) he would not hinder any planned amendment to the 1945 Constitution.

This stance differs from Airlangga’s more tepid response. Airlangga repeatedly said that under his leadership, Golkar would first thoroughly assess the Constitution before supporting an amendment. “Debating constitutional amendments will only create uncertainty for investors,” said Airlangga, who is the coordinating economic minister.

Ujang said that Jokowi had a stake in the Golkar power struggle, saying he seemed to lean toward Airlangga who had long been loyal to him.

However, the PDI-P , he added, had an interest in supporting Bambang’s candidacy.

“Bambang has full control over the main agenda of the PDI-P: the amendment of the Constitution."

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