Bagus B.T. Saragih, Jakarta – As internal conflicts within the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) intensified, the Golkar Party is now facing an allegation that one of its lawmakers used his influence to help smartphone smugglers.

The Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) reported on Thursday Golkar's Aziz Syamsuddin to the House of Representatives' ethics council for allegedly helping alleged smugglers at Tanjung Priok Port.

"[Aziz] allegedly abused his political authority to protect two containers full of smuggled smart phones and alcoholic drinks found at Tanjung Priok Port on Jan. 10. The two containers, previously seized by customs officers, were subsequently released due to the intervention of a number of the House's law and human rights commission members led by Aziz," ICW activist Apung Widadi said after filing the report.

Aziz, also a deputy chairman of the House's law and human rights commission, denied the accusation and instead threatened to file a police report against the activists. "If there were lawmakers like that, they must be reported to the police or the Corruption Eradication Commission [KPK]," he said.

Speculation is rife that the revelation could lead to internal conflicts within the party and tarnish the party's image, as happened recently to the PKS.

Reports of alleged corruption and polygamy scandals involving PKS' elite members have been intensifying after one of the party's co-founders, Yusuf Supendi, filed a report with the House's ethics council against several top PKS politicians.

Yusuf also reported PKS secretary-general Anis Matta to the KPK for the alleged abuse of official party funds that he believed came from unnamed Middle East sources, although the anti-graft body is not authorized to probe the alleged crime.

Anis was also accused of embezzling Rp 10 billion (US$1.15 million) in campaign funds.

Calling the accusations slander, Anis said Yusuf had been "singing an old song." On Thursday, PKS deputy secretary-general Mahfudz Siddiq dismissed Yusuf's statement that he had offered financial aid to Yusuf's wife, who had been hospitalized after a stroke.

Mahfudz also denied the rumor, saying the PKS executive board had sent a psychiatrist to Yusuf to check if the latter "was mentally ill".

"All of this is one scenario. It has been orchestrated to attack the PKS," Mahfudz said.

Similarly to Mahfudz, Aziz said he also believed that the allegation against him was orchestrated by his political foes.

Speculation flared that the revelation of scandals involving politicians from the PKS and the Golkar Party was linked to the latest political turmoil among members of the government coalition.

Despite their status as government allies, both parties have repeatedly opposed President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party.

Last month, both party once again sided with opposition parties in a vote on a proposal to establish a legislative inquiry committee to probe massive corruption at the tax office. It infuriated many Democratic Party politicians and led to a strong speech by President Yudhoyono saying, "coalition parties that have violated commitments should be sanctioned."