Mob attacks PPP headquarters

JAKARTA. Dozens of people have stormed the headquarters of the United Development Party (PPP) in Menteng, Central Jakarta, in the early hours of Sunday morning.

“Around 80 people (came to the building) using cars and motorbikes,” PPP deputy chairman Humprey Djemat said on Sunday, as quoted by news agency Antara.

The Islamic party has been crippled for years by a power struggle between two factions.

Humprey is of the faction led by self-proclaimed chairman Djan Farid, which occupies the headquarters. The other faction is led by Romahurmuziy, who also claims to be the legitimate party chairman.

Humprey added that party officials had reported the attack to the Central Jakarta Police.

The unidentified assailants were seen intimidating people inside the building, as recorded by a security camera. The attackers also pushed against the locked gate and threw rocks into the building.

Djan was elected party leader at the party’s congress in Jakarta, while Romahurmuziy was elected at a party congress in Bandung, West Java.

On June 14, the Jakarta State Administrative High Court (PTTUN) ruled on the dispute in favor of Romahurmuziy, overturning an earlier ruling by the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN) that favored Djan.