Pressure up for Golkar to hold early congress
Pressure up for Golkar to hold early congress
A'an Suryana and Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
An internal rift has cast a shadow over the planned Golkar Party
executive board meeting early next month, which may be marked by
talks on holding an extraordinary congress to demand that Akbar
Tandjung account for his troubled leadership.
A Golkar executive, Yasril Ananta Baharuddin, acknowledged
there were "certain elements inside the party" who had stepped up
demands for the holding of a snap congress that could cost Akbar
his chairmanship of the party.
Yasril did not identify the group. Neither would he say how
serious the demand was.
"A proposal to stage an extraordinary congress was discussed
during our most recent meeting," he said,
According to Yasril, no resolution had been agreed upon, but
party executives who supported Akbar finally agreed to continue
the talks during the upcoming meeting scheduled to last from Feb.
7 to Feb. 9.
Golkar top executives and patrons regrouped for a two-day
meeting on Tuesday, and on Wednesday held a consolidation
meeting, which was presided over by Akbar.
A member of the Golkar board of patrons, Ahmad Arnold
Baramuli, has so far been the only one to have openly called for
an extraordinary congress. Baramuli heads the Iramasuka caucus,
which groups Golkar politicians from eastern Indonesia.
Baramuli attended the first meeting on Tuesday.
He has several times in the past suggested an extraordinary
congress to unseat Akbar, whom he accuses of failing to comply
with the party's decision to ensure BJ Habibie's victory in the
1999 presidential election.
The demand has gained new momentum since Akbar was named a
suspect in the alleged misuse of Rp 40 billion belonging to the
State Logistics Agency (Bulog) in 1999 when he was the state
secretary/minister.
Yasril said Wednesday's meeting mainly discussed "the party's
internal consolidation", although the Bulog scam, which has
implicated Akbar, was also touched on.
Golkar deputy chairman Fahmi Idris, who also chairs the Golkar
faction in the People's Consultative Assembly, played down the
internal rift.
"Differences of opinion are normal and natural in a party's
daily life," he said.
The Akbar camp, however, has prepared moves to foil any
attempt to win support for an extraordinary congress.
Rully Chairul Azwar said that unlike normal executive meetings
at which representatives of regional branches were invited, next
month's forum would only be attended by Golkar's top executives
and representatives of provincial chapters.
The party rules stipulate that any decision to hold an
extraordinary congress requires the presence of representatives
of the regional branches.
"The proposal must be agreed upon by two-thirds of the
delegates representing regional branches and provincial chapters.
Since the regional branches are not going to be invited, a
decision on such a proposal cannot be taken," he said.