Ethics council chairman Mohammad Hatta said the party had its own mechanism to propose an extraordinary congress, rather than by making the idea public, which could create confusion among members.

“We advised [Lawrence] not to air party issues in public,” Hatta told reporters on Monday.

The ethics council has yet to decide whether or not to punish Lawrence, but said that if he continues pushing for the extraordinary congress, the council could throw him out of the party.

Lawrence is one of deputy chairs of the Central Organization for Indonesian Employees (SOKSI), one of the Golkar Party's oldest affiliate organizations, who, along with several other senior members, including Golkar advisory council member Ridwan Hisjam, called in a press conference on July 12 for an extraordinary congress to replace Airlangga. Lawrence at the time blasted Airlangga for the party’s “unclear direction” ahead of presidential and legislative elections next year, citing it as the cause of the party’s declining electability.

But Agung Laksono, the chairman of Golkar’s advisory council, said the council did not recommend an extraordinary congress at all, let alone a leadership change.

Instead, the council issued a recommendation in its meeting on July 9 at Agung’s private residence that Golkar should set up an alternative electoral alliance to make sure the party has an electoral vehicle to have Airlangga as a contender in the presidential race. The document, seen by The Jakarta Post, said that this would raise morale among all Golkar legislative candidates and help the party win the legislative election.

Agung has also described the plea by Lawrence and his group as a maneuver by “uninvited riders” seeking to undermine the party’s unity ahead of the elections.

Responding to the call for his removal, Airlangga said there was no immediate plan to hold an extraordinary meeting to remove him from the party’s presidential ticket, stressing that Golkar members remained solid behind him in the lead-up to the 2024 election. But he also welcomed anyone who wished to contest the Golkar chairmanship during an upcoming national congress next year, five years after a congress that announced his reelection as the party chairman.

Golkar, the country’s oldest party and the second-largest party in the House of Representatives, was among the earliest to form an electoral alliance for the 2024 elections, the United Indonesia Coalition (KIB) comprising Golkar, the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the United Development Party (PPP). The alliance, however, has failed to name a strong contender to rival the frontrunners in most public opinion polls.

Golkar has gradually lost its bargaining power, with the PPP deciding to join the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) in backing Central Java Governor and presumptive candidate Ganjar Pranowo, putting the fate of the KIB in question.

Speaking to the press after giving a clarification to the ethics council on Monday, Lawrence insisted that he would keep pushing for a leadership change. “No one is riding our proposal. This idea came because we don’t want the party to fall,” he said.

Popular

Why Israel fears Indonesian peacekeepers in Gaza

Indonesia, US sign reciprocal tariff agreement 

Trump 'Board of Peace' opens with money and troops for Gaza