artikel bahasa inggris tentang sosial politik

Court Honors Aburizal’s Claim to Golkar Leadership

JakartaNews.com-Jakarta-  A Jakarta court has issued the latest in a litany of verdicts to address the leadership dispute within the Golkar Party, Indonesia’s oldest political party, with the defeated camp vowing to continue its legal battle to win the bitter feud.

The Jakarta State Administrative Court, or PTUN Jakarta, on Monday ruled in favor of the camp supporting tycoon Aburizal Bakrie, who was re-elected for a second term as chairman during a party congress held in Bali in December last year.

Aburizal’s camp had filed a lawsuit against a decree issued by Justice Minister Yasonna Laoly that officially acknowledged the leadership of Aburizal’s rival, Agung Laksono, in the party.

Agung was elected the chairman of Golkar during a rival congress in Ancol, North Jakarta, staged just days after the Bali meeting.

The panel of judges abolished the ministerial decree, with the chief judge, Teguh Satya Bhakti, saying the minister had no authority to interfere in an internal party dispute.

Aburizal’s camp has accused the minister of issuing the decree in favor of Agung because of the latter’s close relationship to the ruling party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), of which President Joko Widodo is a member.

Aburizal’s camp, meanwhile, is a staunch supporter of the opposition bloc, the Red-White Coalition, which supported former Army general Prabowo Subianto in the presidential election last year.

“To prevent a vacant leadership in the central executive board of Golkar, as a result of the abolished [ministerial decree], [we decide] the result of the national congress in Pekanbaru to be the one in effect,” said another member of the panel of judges, Subur.

He was referring to Golkar’s congress in 2009 that saw the election of Aburizal as chairman for his first five-year term, with Idrus Marham as the party’s secretary-general.