The Golkar Party has officially installed Airlangga Hartarto, currently the industry minister, as its new chairman to replace Setya Novanto whose term will end in 2019.

"All eligible voters of the Golkar Party have proposed the name of the new general chairman. It has just been decided in the plenary session of the extraordinary congress of the Golkar Party," Hartarto remarked here, Wednesday.

The congress has decided that Hartarto will hold the top post until 2019. His term could be extended during a national leadership meeting.

The participants at the congress have given their full mandate to Hartarto to revamp the organizational structure of the Golkar`s Central Leadership Council (DPP).

"The national congress has given a single mandate to the general chairman to revitalize and restructure the DPP administrators," he remarked.

Hartarto said he will report the results of the extraordinary national congress to President Joko Widodo.

Being currently temporarily detained by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) over a graft case, Novanto had recently sent a letter to resign as both the Golkar chairman and the Parliament chairman.

Novanto was named a suspect in an electronic identity cards (e-KTP) graft case on July 17, 2017.

He had filed a pretrial motion against the KPK. In October 2017, the South Jakarta District Court had approved Novanto`s pretrial motion challenging his suspect status in the e-KTP case.

In November 2017, the KPK had again named Novanto a suspect in the same graft case. Novanto is again filing a pretrial motion against the anti-graft agency, though this time from a KPK prison cell

Source: ANTARA