Matori seeks legal measure over dispute<\/p>\n
Aan Suryana and Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Matori Abdul Djalil, chairman of one of the two opposing camps
\nwithin the National Awakening Party (PKB), challenged his
\npolitical foe Alwi Shihab on Tuesday to bring the party's dispute
\nto court if reconciliation could not take place.<\/p>\n
Matori, who got strong support from the party's congress, said
\nthat 317 of its chapters had unanimously accepted his
\naccountability speech and demanded to retain him as leader of the
\ncountry's fourth-largest party until 2005.<\/p>\n
\"If reconciliation can't be made, there is another means --
\nthe legal process. Pak Alwi is pleased to bring this case to
\ncourt,\" Matori told a press conference at the Borobudur Hotel.<\/p>\n
PKB was established in July 1998 with majority support of the
\n45 million-strong Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Islamic group.<\/p>\n
It split into two factions in July 2001, however, after Matori
\nattended a special session of the People's Consultative Assembly
\n(MPR) to unseat president Abdurrahman \"Gus Dur\" Wahid, a PKB
\nfounder.<\/p>\n
Gus Dur, in his capacity as chief of PKB's board of patrons,
\nretaliated by instantly dismissing Matori and replacing him with
\nAlwi Shihab as leader of the PKB. Alwi served as foreign minister
\nin Abdurrahman's 18-month-long presidency.<\/p>\n
Both, however, claim to be the legitimate PKB leader. Only
\nfour of the PKB's 51 legislators support Matori. Each faction has
\nsince offered reconciliation deal.<\/p>\n
According to Matori, his camp would never accept any
\ncompromise from Alwi's camp that would open its congress on Jan.
\n17. \"We have real support -- we think we have a better future,\"
\nMatori said.<\/p>\n
Matori also slammed several newcomers in Alwi's PKB faction
\nwho received instant significant postings in the party.<\/p>\n
Those outsiders are Alwi Shihab, former research and
\ntechnology minister Muhammad A.S. Hikam, former defense minister
\nMahfud M.D., and former forestry minister Marzuki Usman.<\/p>\n
\"All of them are newcomers; indeed, I don't know when their
\nmembership became effective,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Matori rebuffed speculation that participants in his congress
\nhad come for money. \"Not only do the delegations from regional
\nchapters know me, but I know them all,\" he said, citing examples
\nof regional leaders Anshori Ishak and Mashuri Malik, who were
\ndismissed by Alwi's camp after meeting him.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, all members of the recommendation commission
\n(Commission C) agreed on Tuesday to assign a special team to
\ndraft a final recommendation, which would be brought to a
\ndiscussion at a Plenary Session later at night.<\/p>\n
In a session led by Muchtar Hasan, from Matori's PKB Lampung
\nChapter, the commission appointed five men who hailed from
\nMatori's PKB Chapters in Central Java, Lampung, Maluku, East
\nJava, and West Sumatra.<\/p>\n
The recommendation draft consists of two parts -- political
\nstatements and internal recommendations.<\/p>\n
In the political statements, Matori's PKB demanded that the
\ngovernment seriously eradicate corruption and keep the country
\nfrom fragmenting.<\/p>\n
The party rejects the reinclusion of some sentences in the
\nJakarta Charter, which have been demanded by some puritanical
\ngroups, to the 1945 Constitution.<\/p>\n
Matori's PKB rejected efforts to revoke an old MPR regulation
\nbanning the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) and warned the
\npeople to be vigilant for a revival of the communist party.<\/p>\n
In the recommendation draft, Matori's PKB proposed that
\nopportunities for reconciliation with Alwi's PKB be kept wide
\nopen. \"The PKB must immediately arrange the party's structures,
\nwhich are accommodative,\" it said.<\/p>\n
However, the party was apparently ready to formally split with
\nthe Alwi's PKB as well.<\/p>\n
The recommendation proposed that Matori's PKB faction must be
\nready to be a separate party in the near future.<\/p>\n
\"The party must build its own network, it should re-register
\nwith the Ministry of Justice, and must hold internal
\nconsolidation to prepare for the 2004 elections,\" it said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/matori-seeks-legal-measure-over-dispute-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}