Golkar member stabbed to death after meeting

Oyos Saroso, The Jakarta Post/Central Lampung

Robinson, 40, a senior Golkar Party member in Central Lampung regency, was stabbed to death late on Thursday after a party meeting.

The bloody incident began when dozens of Golkar Party councillors and activists had finished an internal party meeting at Golkar's Central Lampung party headquarters.

The meeting, led by the chairman of Golkar's Central Lampung branch I Made Bagiasa, initially went smoothly, said chief of Central Lampung Regental Police Adj. Sr. Comr. Juni.

But, it became unruly when the party members discussed the disbursement of allowances to the executives at the party's district offices throughout Central Lampung regency.

The money, between Rp 350,000 and Rp 750,000 per person has so far been distributed regularly to the party's district executives at the beginning of every month. But the district executives had not received their January allowance by the end of January, fueling their anger.

In order to resolve the problem, Golkar councillor Noven Ahdariyanto proposed that the stipend for January and February this year be disbursed in March.

But, Robinson, the chief of Golkar's Padangratu district, was apparently dissatisfied with the proposal.

"If you cannot pay even for a year, it does not matter. We are not going to die because of it," Robinson said, taunting Noven.

Noven was enraged and warned Robinson not to seek trouble. Other Golkar councillors and activists calmed Noven down, but he left Golkar headquarters enraged.

A few hours later, Noven returned to the Golkar headquarters with his friend Andi, 30.

The meeting had just ended, but many party members were still sitting around chatting.

Noven looked for Robinson and when he found him, he pushed him into a corner. The two were involved in a fierce argument that ended in a fight. Andi came to Noven's aid and the fight turned bloody after Andi pulled out a knife and stabbed Robinson repeatedly. Robinson was stabbed in the neck and chest and soon fell to the ground.

Knowing that Robinson was badly hurt, the two left the building immediately.

Other Golkar activists and councillors quickly brought Robinson to a local hospital, but he died shortly after arriving in the hospital because he had lost so much blood.

Police swiftly hunted down Andi and arrested him later at Immanuel Hospital in Bandarlampung at Thursday night, while Noven is still at large. The police have seized the knife and questioned five witnesses.

Chief of Golkar Party's Lampung provincial chapter Alzier Dianis Thabrani said that the party would take stern measures against Noven if he was found guilty in the case.