Golkar warns dissenting members

JAKARTA: Golkar Party chairman Akbar Tandjung says he will give second chances to party executives Marwah Daud Ibrahim, Fahmi Idris, and Agung Laksono to retain their positions in the party despite their calls for him to step down.

Akbar, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, said on Friday that Golkar would not sack them although demands from other members to dismiss them were mounting, except if they repeated their calls.

Marwah, Fahmi and Agung urged Akbar to resign after he was convicted of misusing Rp 40 billion (US$4.4 million) of state funds earmarked for Indonesia's poorest citizens.

Akbar also said that his party had decided to postpone the Golkar leaders' meeting from October to January next year, or after the endorsement of the electoral bill by the House of Representatives. -- Antara