Matori poses major challenge to alwi: Analysts<\/p>\n
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Political analysts on Tuesday advised former president
\nAbdurrahman Wahid's National Awakening Party (PKB) not to
\nbelittle the strength of a rival faction led by Minister of
\nDefense Matori Abdul Djalil.<\/p>\n
They said Matori could pose a significant challenge to former
\nminister of foreign affairs Alwi Shihab, who currently leads
\nAbdurrahman's PKB camp.<\/p>\n
Syamsuddin Haris of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences
\n(LIPI) and Tommi A. Legowo of the Center for Strategic and
\nInternational Studies (CSIS) said that neither faction should
\nignore the political strength of its rival.<\/p>\n
\"Support for the PKB under Matori is not as wide as that for
\nthe PKB under Alwi Shihab. But Matori has potential political
\nstrengths which could pose a significant challenge to Alwi's
\ncamp,\" Syamsuddin told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
The PKB has been embroiled in a bitter internal feud since
\nJuly when the party's board of patrons, led by Abdurrahman, or
\nGus Dur as he is familiarly known, sacked Matori as its chairman
\nand appointed Alwi to replace him.<\/p>\n
Matori's dismissal was due to his support for the special
\nsession of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) that stripped
\nAbdurrahman of power in July. However, Matori claims his sacking
\nwas unlawful.<\/p>\n
The political conflict has been intensifying since Matori's
\nfaction held a two-day national party meeting on Monday in
\nJakarta. It claimed the forum was attended by at least 100
\nrepresentatives from 21 of the 32 PKB regional chapters.<\/p>\n
On Monday, Alwi's camp threatened to sue Matori for organizing
\nan illegal meeting. It said the rival faction had no right to use
\nPKB's attributes, such as letterheads, official stamps and flags,
\nbecause Matori was no longer the PKB leader.<\/p>\n
Syamsuddin pointed to three political possibilities that
\nMatori could exploit so as to increase his strength.<\/p>\n
First, he said Matori could garner support from members of
\nNahdlatul Ulama (NU), the nation's largest Muslim organization,
\noutside Java, the main stronghold of Alwi's PKB faction.<\/p>\n
\"NU members from outside Java are more rational than those
\nfrom Java. Their loyalty to Gus Dur is not so fanatical as those
\nfrom Java. Therefore, Matori can expect support from them,\"
\nSyamsuddin said.<\/p>\n
Second, he said Matori could make use of his position as
\ndefense minister to consolidate his support as many people would
\ntake into account such a ministerial post when deciding whom to
\nback.<\/p>\n
And third, Syamsuddin said the leadership style of the PKB
\nunder Alwi, which relied on the charisma of Abdurrahman, would
\nnot be successful in the future should the country's
\ndemocratization process continue smoothly.<\/p>\n
Tommi, who is the CSIS socio-political department head,
\nconcurred, urging Alwi's camp to take into account the fact that
\nMatori was able to invite over 100 representatives from 21 PKB
\nprovincial chapters for the national meeting that ended on
\nTuesday.<\/p>\n
Although it was not clear whether the participants were really
\nrepresentatives from PKB branches in the regions, their presence
\ncould constitute a first step by Matori in consolidating his
\npolitical support, Tommi said.<\/p>\n
However, he said the success of Matori's political maneuvers
\ndepended very much on whether his faction would be able to
\nconvince his political allies that he would abandon the
\ntraditional leadership style of the PKB as now exemplified by
\nAlwi.<\/p>\n
\"Matori is now trying to reduce the charismatic role of
\nAbdurrahman through demythologization. But such a process will
\ntake time to succeed,\" Tommi told the Post on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The PKB is the fourth largest faction in the 500-member House
\nof Representatives, where it has 51 seats.<\/p>",
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