GOLKAR. The Golkar Party's central executive board (DPP) announced on Thursday that it would hold a national meeting (Munas) in Bali next month.

Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie conveyed the planned date and the members of the Munas organizing committee during a plenary meeting on Thursday.

"After I checked the schedule of the President [Joko "Jokowi" Widodo], the right time for the Munas is May 7. I hope you don't have any objection with that date. Do you agree with it?" Aburizal asked all Golkar central board members in the meeting at the party's headquarters in Slipi, West Jakarta, on Thursday.

"Agreed," they quickly replied.

The central executive board also has not yet decided whether the national meeting will be held in Sanur or Nusa Dua, Bali, as they still have to wait for confirmation on the availability of the place.

In the meeting, the central executive board also decided on the structure of the extraordinary national meeting committee. The names included are similar with those mentioned in a proposal, which was conveyed during a Golkar daily meeting in late February.

The plenary meeting on Thursday went smoothly with no interruptions from board members or disputes about the structure of the extraordinary national meeting.

Aburizal and Agung will be the person in charge at the extraordinary national congress. Theo Sambuaga, a senior Golkar Party member, will fill the position of chief organizer, together with former fisheries and maritime affairs minister Fadel Muhammad and Golkar senior politician Yorrys Raweyai.

Considering the tight schedule for preparing the meeting, Aburizal urged the committee to complete the structure soon. The committee is expected to report on the preparation needed for the national meeting by next week.

The Law and Human Rights Ministry previously extended the Riau congress leadership, which expired in 2014, for six months on January 28.

The decree was issued to help the party organize a congress as part of the effort to end its leadership conflict. Golkar has been split into two factions for around a year. One is led by Aburizal as chosen by a congress in Bali in November 2014, and another by Agung, who was elected at a conflicting congress in Ancol, Jakarta, in December 2015.

The Riau congress selected Aburizal Bakrie as party chairman, Agung Laksono as deputy chairman and Idrus Marham as secretary-general. (Erika Anindita Dewi)

Editor: Barratut Taqiyyah Rafie