JAKARTA. As an engineered plan to ensure that incumbent Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie secured a second term became apparent on the second day of the party’s national congress, opposing faction leader Agung Laksono left Nusa Dua, Bali, on Monday with plans to challenge the result of the authoritarian chairmanship race. 

Agung, who returned to Jakarta on Monday evening, said his camp would continue with its plan to hold its own congress in Jakarta, in January next year. He also indicated that his camp had been gearing up to take legal measures to annul Aburizal’s victory should the latter be reelected.

“Our upcoming congress in January is the one that is constitutional. [The ongoing one in Bali] is fake and illegal,” the party’s deputy chairman said.

Contradicting his previous call for unity with Agung’s group during an opening speech on Sunday night, Aburizal ordered the congress committee on Monday to clear the area of banners and posters featuring Agung, who had announced himself as a contender in the party’s chairmanship race. 

Another hopeful, Priyo Budi Santoso, said that he had been denied entry to the congress venue.

Agung to hold his own congress in Jakarta in January.

Lawmaker Airlangga Hartarto withdrew from the race Living up to earlier concerns that Aburizal would use his power to influence the chairmanship race at the congress in his favor, the head of the congress’ steering committee, Nurdin Halid, also known as Aburizal’s right-hand man, led a draconian forum to set rules in the chairmanship race that included open voting, requiring participants to declare their preferred candidates in an open forum.

Protests fell on deaf ears regarding the rule, which made it difficult for participants to declare support for candidates other than Aburizal. 

Lawmaker Airlangga Hartarto, who once planned to challenge Aburizal in the election, withdrew from the race on Tuesday night.

“[Aburizal] has been abusing his power to make this congress unanimously name him [the new chairman],” he said. “Peculiarities have continued to emerge during this congress but complaints were totally ignored.”

Airlangga said it was obvious that Aburizal’s camp had engineered the congress.

Citing an example, he said the meeting had enacted the congress’ code of conduct without discussing the details of each article. He also said that the organizers had embargoed congress materials, as many people had not received meeting papers.

The congress leader also officiated other rules favoring Aburizal such as a stipulation that any chairman candidate would be unanimously declared the new Golkar chairman if more than 50 percent of voters expressed their support for that particular candidate.

There are 563 voters in the Golkar chairmanship election. Each of the 552 party branches at provincial, municipal and regional levels, as well as 10 wing organizations, has one vote. The central executive board also has one vote.

Agung’s faction, calling itself Presidium, consists of chairman hopefuls like Priyo and Zainal Bintang, who grew discontented with Aburizal’s unilateral way of setting the rules for the chairmanship race just days before the congress.

They said that the rules would discourage regional and local branches from voting for candidates other than Aburizal given the “rampant” threats of dismissal to those not loyal to the incumbent.

Agung said the problem at the congress was far greater than Aburizal’s iron fist. He added that the last congress in 2009 clearly mandated the following congress to be held in 2015. 

“An expedited congress is allowed, under special circumstances, and is named an extraordinary congress,” Agung said. 

The congress in Bali was held just like an ordinary congress and was not conducted as an extraordinary congress, said Agung. The organizational proceedings required to lead an extraordinary congress were also not met and, hence, it was unconstitutional, he added.

Agung’s camp may file legal disputes to reject any decisions made at the Bali congress.

According to the 2011 Political Party Law, Agung’s complaints can be filed with Golkar’s ethics council. The council’s decision can be challenged via an appeal filed with the State Administrative Court.

Golkar has the second-largest amount of seats at the House of Representatives after the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the party of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. 

A new Golkar leader would likely bring the party into a coalition with the PDI-P, which would mean Jokowi administration’s would secure a House majority. (Bagus BT Saragih and Ni Komang Erviani)

Editor: Sanny Cicilia