Golkar fires 9 free-thinkers execs

Golkar fires 9 free-thinkers execs

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Golkar Party dismissed on Monday nine key Golkar members for
defying the executive board's order to support presidential
candidate Megawati Soekarnoputri and her running mate Hasyim
Muzadi in Monday's election runoff.

Two of those, Fahmi Idris and former attorney general Marzuki
Darusman, will almost certainly lose their seats in the House of
Representatives, even though they were directly elected by the
people -- Jakarta and West Nusa Tenggara, respectively -- in
April's legislative election.

Other Golkar members who have been shown the door are
Burhanuddin Napitupulu, Juniwati Maschun Sofwan, Abu Hasan
Sazili, Abu Hanifah, Yoeslin Nasution, Anton Lesiangi and Firman
Soebagyo.

Priyo Budi Santoso, who was reelected as a House legislator,
escaped the scythe after he complied with the party's order to
"clarify his involvement in the mutiny".

"Only Priyo has given us a clear explanation. The others,
instead, have just urged the party to lift their suspensions,"
Golkar leader Akbar Tandjung explained. Party executives are
still trying to meet with another member, Edison Betaubun, Akbar
added.

The dismissal was announced following an extraordinary party
meeting that finished at 3 a.m. on Monday morning.

The Golkar central executive board had earlier suspended the
11 politicians and explain why they chose to vote on their own
and not in conformity with the party. The party sent several
groups of people to meet personally with the free-thinking
politicians.

Akbar said Golkar had the right to annul the election of
Marzuki and Fahmi as House legislators in accordance with Law No.
31/2002 on political parties.

Article 12 of the law states that party members who are
elected legislative members can be dismissed from the legislative
body if they lose their membership in their respective political
parties.

Departing from Golkar's official dictate to support without
question, the Megawati-Hasyim ticket, Fahmi and his colleagues
formed the Golkar Reform Forum, which announced its support of
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his running mate Jusuf Kalla -- also
a key Golkar man.

Golkar suspended Kalla from his position as party advisor,
because he was "disrupting Golkar's unity". But the party failed
on Monday to make a decision on what sanctions to take against
Kalla, pending a meeting with Akbar which is being arranged.
Kalla looks set to become the new vice president of the country
after early returns of Monday's vote.

Responding to his dismissal, Abu Hasan said he and his friends
were considering a lawsuit against the party's leaders, and said
their decision was illegitimate.

"We will coordinate with our lawyers to discuss the lawsuit,"
Abu Hasan told The Jakarta Post.

Since they insist that the dismissal is illegitimate, Abu
Hasan said the dissenting politicians would continue their
activities as members of Golkar.

He said the politicians had been working and struggling for
the party for years. Therefore, he said, "our presence in the
party cannot be terminated simply by a decision made by single
group of Golkar elitists".

Citing the preliminary result of Monday's elections, Abu Hasan
said more Golkar members in the province preferred the Susilo-
Kalla pairing to Megawati and Hasyim.

"We knew this from the beginning. People want changes. It must
be the duty of the Golkar Party to accommodate the aspirations of
the people," he added.

He suspected that the decision to dismiss him and other Golkar
members was intended to discouraging other party members from
supporting Susilo and Kalla.