Jakarta – Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie has fired back at rumors that he met with high-profile graft suspect Gayus Tambunan in Bali, calling it nothing more than political intrigue designed to weaken his party ahead of the 2014 elections.

"The rumor is something not worthy to be discussed. It is a useless political intrigue that does nothing good for the nation," Bakrie told Metro TV. "Given my position as the chairman of Golkar, I feel that many people are afraid that Golkar will be a threat in 2014."

On Friday, Kompas wrote that Bakrie, accompanied by a Golkar official Fuad Hasan Mashyur, met with Gayus in one of his resorts.

Gayus, found to be bribing his way to a Bali vacation while on trial for corruption charges, broke down into tears on Monday when he admitted in a hearing at the South Jakarta District Court that he was the wigged man captured by a Jakarta Globe photographer at an international tennis match in Bali on Nov. 5.

Golkar Party members have also spoken out against the rumors. "There was no meeting," Lalu Mara Satriawangsa, a senior Golkar politician and Aburizal spokesman, told the Globe on Sunday.

He confirmed that the Golkar chairman did attend the tennis tournament, but said he arrived on a different day to when Gayus was allegedly spotted in Bali. "Aburizal was in Palembang for a Golkar meeting on Friday [Nov. 5]," Lalu Mara said. "He didn't arrive in Bali until Saturday."

Other Golkar politicians said the rumor was a systematic effort by unidentified groups to ruin the party's image by attacking its chairman. "Golkar rebukes any effort that seeks to ruin the image of the party," lawmaker Bambang Soesatyo said on Sunday.

The allegations "are being exploited by certain parties to corner Golkar and the party chairman," he added. The vocal lawmaker went a step further: "It wouldn't be unreasonable for Golkar members to think that Gayus's appearance in Bali was fabricated especially to attack Golkar."

Gayus amassed a fortune that he claims came from bribes from companies including miners Kaltim Prima Coal, Arutmin and Bumi Resources, which are linked to Aburizal. The companies have denied paying bribes.