Joko Meets Golkar Faction Leaders, Urges Reconciliation
Jakarta. President Joko Widodo has met with both faction leaders of the embattled Golkar Party to encourage the reunification of Indonesia's oldest political group.
Joko met Agung Laksono and his rival camp's leader Aburizal Bakrie at separate times it the State Palace on Monday.
According to Agung, Joko questioned him on the party's internal mechanism in settling disputes while urging both factions to reconcile.
“We want [to resolve the matter] soon and one of our options is to hold a joint extraordinary congress,” Agung said.
Aburizal, however, was quick to reject the idea, insisting that his camp has the right to lead the party.
“To us, the problem has been solved. Therefore, we came here [the State Palace] to meet the president discuss ways of tackling Indonesia's current problems,” Aburizal told reporters after the closed-door meeting with Joko.
Chief security minister Luhut Pandjaitan said the meetings indicated that both factions are willing to settle the party's long-running internal dispute, hoping it will be resolved in a favorable way.
The rift in the party stems from the 2014 presidential campaign, fueled by disappointment within the leadership at the party’s unprecedented failure, under Aburizal, to get one of its own members on the presidential ticket.
Aburizal’s loyalists went on to hold a national congress in December 2014 in Bali, where they re-elected the tycoon to another term as chairman. Just days later, however, a rival faction held its own congress in Ancol, North Jakarta, where it named Agung chairman.
Tags: Keywords: