REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Chairman of Golkar Party Aburizal Bakrie (Ical) held a meeting at the Merdeka Palace, here, Monday afternoon.
"As (the chairman of) a strong party and a supporter of democracy, he is also invited by the President," Minister/State Secretary Pratikno said following the meeting.
Earlier on the same day, Agung Laksono, a senior politician from the Golkar Party, also met President Jokowi at the Merdeka Palace.
Laksono, who is also chairman of one of the rival factions of the Golkar Party that has split into two, stated that he wanted the party to be united in a fair manner.
He was elected general chairman of the rival faction in a congress in Ancol, Jakarta, after earlier in Bali, the other faction elected incumbent Aburizal Bakrie to lead the party for another five years.
"We differ in opinion, but we love unity. We want reconciliation. We want to be united again but in a fair manner," Laksono noted recently.
He remarked that the best way to reconcile was through a national congress to elect new leaders of the party.
He pointed out that the congress should be held as soon as possible, no later than next month, to allow the party to carry on its functions as a political entity.
The government had earlier only recognized the party under Laksono, but the court ordered to cancel the recognition.
Bakrie and his followers recently held a meeting in Bali and decided to reject the idea of holding a congress before 2019.
On December 31, Aburizal Bakrie-led Golkar Secretary General Idrus Marham received a decree from the Justice and Human Rights Minister, revoking the government's recognition of the rival Golkar led by Agung Laksono.
"I receive it (the decree of the minister) this morning in the Slipi office of the Golkar Party's Executive Board. It was delivered by a staff member of the Justice and Human Rights Ministry," Idrus said.
The issuance of the decree confirmed that the Agung Laksono-led Golkar leadership is no longer recognized.
Only the Golkar leadership elected during its national congress in Riau and organizing the Bali congress in 2014 has been recognized.
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