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.