'Megawati must be tough on Akbar'<\/p>\n
Yogita Tahil Ramani and Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri skipped the opening ceremony of
\nMatori Abdul Djalil's National Awakening Party (PKB) congress on
\nMonday, averting a worsening of the already tense relations
\nbetween two rival factions from the Nahdlatul Ulama-based party.<\/p>\n
Her absence also spared her from being placed in the same
\ncategory as former president Soeharto, who, in his 32 years as
\nleader, often intervened in the internal affairs of political
\nparties and purged politicians who challenged his authority.<\/p>\n
Matori said Megawati had decided not to open PKB's congress to
\nallow rival factions -- the Matori and Alwi Shihab camps -- to
\nmend their fences and reconcile.<\/p>\n
\"The President told me that for the sake of possible islah
\n(reconciliation) between the two PKB factions, she would be
\nskipping the opening of our congress. She also conveyed apologies
\nfor her absence,\" Matori told over 1,500 participants of the
\ncongress, held at Hotel Borobudur in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Megawati's presence at the congress would have been tantamount
\nto backing Matori's PKB faction, a move that many political
\nanalysts believed would only worsen relations between the two
\ncamps.<\/p>\n
Matori said to avoid giving the same impression, Megawati
\nwould not show up either at the PKB national congress of Alwi
\nShihab's faction in Yogyakarta from Jan. 17 through Jan. 19.<\/p>\n
\"I assure you President Megawati will not show up either at
\nthe extraordinary congress held by the other PKB camp (the Alwi
\nShihab faction),\" Matori said.<\/p>\n
Founded in July 1999 with majority support from the Nahdlatul
\nUlama (NU), the country's largest Muslim organization with over
\n40 million members, PKB split into two groups in July 2001 after
\na faction led by then chairperson Matori Abdul Djalil supported
\nand attended the Special Session of the People's Consultative
\nAssembly (MPR). The session dismissed then president Abdurrahman
\n\"Gus Dur\" Wahid, the founder of PKB.<\/p>\n
Matori's decision irked most PKB leaders and representatives
\nin MPR, who immediately sought his expulsion from the party. Gus
\nDur, in his capacity as chief of PKB board of patrons, later
\nfired Matori and installed then foreign minister Alwi Shihab as
\nthe new PKB chairman, resulting in the current dualism in the
\nparty's leadership.<\/p>\n
In his opening speech at his three-day congress on Monday,
\nMatori expressed conviction that his faction was \"clearly
\nrespected and accepted by Megawati's leadership.\"<\/p>\n
\"They (the Alwi-led PKB camp) downgraded me, but the
\ngovernment has remained silent. This means that I am respected.
\nThe point here is, let the dogs bark ... (we) will move on,\"
\nMatori told his members.<\/p>\n
Amid strong rumors that Matori had pulled out all stops to
\nlobby military officials and ministers to attend the opening of
\nhis congress, the only minister who did attend the ceremony was
\nMinister of Health Achmad Sujudi.<\/p>\n
Matori's camp claimed that the congress had won the support of
\naround 300 district chapters from 30 provinces.<\/p>\n
Earlier, PKB legislator from the Matori camp Agus Suflihat
\nMahmud said that the main purpose of the extraordinary congress
\nwould be to assess Matori's leadership, especially the prelude to
\nthe split of the country's fourth-largest party.<\/p>\n
During Monday's opening speech, Matori asked his party members
\nto evaluate him objectively.<\/p>\n
\"Did you perceive my presence at the MPR Special Session,
\nwhich brought down president Abdurrahman Wahid, as a personal,
\nambitious move, or one that reflected my concern for PKB's
\nwelfare and the welfare of our country?\"<\/p>\n
\"If you see that I went beyond our party's guidelines, please
\ndo not hesitate to bring me down.\"<\/p>\n
He also invited members of the Alwi-led PKB camp, like A.S.
\nHikam and former defense minister Mahfud MD to join his camp.<\/p>\n
The Alwi faction received much-needed support on Sunday when a
\ngroup of influential Muslim leaders from Langitan Islamic
\nBoarding School in Tuban, East Java, pledged their support for
\nthe faction.<\/p>\n
Muslim leaders said that most PKB participants remained solid
\nunder the Alwi-Abdurrahman leadership.<\/p>\n
NU, which Abdurrahman chaired for years, has quietly placed
\nits support behind the Alwi-Abdurrahman camp.<\/p>\n
NU chairman, Hasyim Muzadi, however, said that he had given up
\nin his efforts to reconcile the two camps and had let all NU
\nmembers who attended choose one of the two.<\/p>",
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