Practice Legal English 01

Golkar in daze after court ruling

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Headlines | Tue, May 19 2015

A court decision on Monday brought the settlement of

months-long infighting within the Golkar Party back to
square one, risking both conflicting camps not
contesting the upcoming regional elections, as a
permanent solution may fail to meet the General
Elections Commissions (KPU) deadline for a resolution.

Expressions of happiness from dozens of supporters of

Golkars Aburizal Bakrie camp erupted at the Jakarta
State Administrative Court (PTUN) in Pulo Gebang, East
Jakarta, as presiding judge Teguh Satya Bhakti
announced that the court had dismissed the leadership
of his rival Agung Laksono within Golkar.

 After weeks of hearings, the court decided to annul a

ministerial decree issued by Law and Human Rights
Minister Yasonna H. Laoly that had recognized Agung as
Golkar chairman, arguing that it stood on false grounds.

Nine experts [provided by both the plaintiff and

defendant] had dissented on whether Golkars tribunal
had made a decision [favoring Agungs camp]. The law
and human rights minister was not within his capacity to
interpret the tribunals decision. [The ministry] can issue
a decree when there is no internal problem, judging
panel member Tri Cahya Indra read out the decision.

 But the spontaneous euphoria did not last

long as the court did not rule that the
Aburizal camp was the valid representative of
the party.
The decision put Golkar back in limbo, which
could also mean the party is on the verge of
being absent from the 269 regional elections
set to kick off concurrently in December. The
number is about half of the total regencies,
municipalities and provinces in Indonesia.

 The KPU has insisted on upholding its regulation,

saying that any political party experiencing an
internal dispute cannot participate in regional
elections until there is a final and binding court
decision or a reconciliation between conflicting
camps by the end of June.

But reconciliation did not seem to be an

immediate option for the supporters of Agung, a
former minister who was Aburizals deputy in
Golkar during the previous chairmanship.

 This is unfair. We reject this decision. We are

filing an appeal, Agung said while rushing to
his car.
An appeal will mean a longer judicial process
to reach a final decision. It could take more
than a year, based on previous cases.
Agungs lawyer, Lawrence Siburian, claimed
that judges had ignored many facts and
testimonies presented before the court.

 The law on political parties stipulates that only the

party tribunal has the right to make a decision on a
partys internal conflict. It was also ignored by the
judges, as if the court had the right to determine the
decision of the partys council, he said.

The House of Representatives, which is dominated by

the opposition coalition to which Aburizal-led Golkar
also belongs, has attempted to persuade the KPU to
relax its regulation to enable Golkar, as well as the
United Development Party (PPP), which is also currently
facing an internal dispute, to take part in the regional
elections.

 Due to the KPUs insistence, lawmakers of the

opposition parties have proposed an
immediate revision to the Regional Elections
Law, which has practically not been applied
to guide any regional election since it was
passed in February.
House speakers held a consultation meeting
with President Joko Jokowi Widodo to obtain
the governments consent to revise the law
as well as the Political Parties Law.

 We, of course, hope that there will be a final

decision coming from the President. Lets just
wait, House Speaker Setya Novanto of
Golkar, considered part of Aburizals camp,
said after the meeting at the Presidential
Office, adding that they believed Jokowi would
take a wise stance on the matter.
Cabinet Secretary Andi Widjajanto said the
President had yet to indicate his stance on the
Houses amendment plan.

 The President has listened to the

[Houses] considerations they used
as the basis to revise [the two laws].
The President said it should first be
studied at the ministerial level.
Aburizals camp unilaterally decided
to hold a congress in Nusa Dua, Bali,
late last year, which named Aburizal
the partys chairman for another five-

 Claiming cheating and foul play from Aburizals

camp to block local pro-Agung representatives,
Agungs camp held its own congress a few
weeks later. There he was declared Golkars new
chairman.

The best feasible option is to end the fight

peacefully otherwise none of the competing
factions can nominate their candidates, said Titi
Anggraini, executive director of the Association
for Elections and Democracy (Perludem).(saf)