Opposing PKB camps trade accusations<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A bitter internal feud in the National Awakening Party (PKB),
\nthe fourth largest party in the country, erupted into the public
\ndomain on Monday.<\/p>\n
The open battle for leadership pits Matori Abdul Djalil in one
\ncamp and Alwi Sihab in the other, with each claiming to be the
\nlegitimate party leader.<\/p>\n
Matori held a national working meeting attended by over 100
\nrepresentatives from 21 of the 32 provincial chapters to show
\nthat he has strong grassroots support.<\/p>\n
Another 200 Matori supporters were present at a party
\nconference in the Ciputra Hotel in West Jakarta. In the eyes of
\nthe Alwi camp, the convention was illegal because Matori had been
\ndismissed from the party for disloyalty.<\/p>\n
British ambassador Richard Gozny was among VIPs at the
\ngathering.<\/p>\n
The convention enraged the Alwi camp, who threatened to sue
\nMatori and his supporters for establishing a rival PKB executive
\nboard and organizing the national meeting.<\/p>\n
\"We are preparing legal action against Pak Matori and his
\ncamp. I don't see any other way to resolve this problem. He has
\nviolated the party's constitution,\" Alwi told The Jakarta Post on
\nMonday.<\/p>\n
Effendy Choirie from the Alwi camp said Matori had violated
\nthe law by appropriating PKB attributes, such as letterheads,
\nofficial stamps, flags, and other party symbols.<\/p>\n
But Matori, who was the party's first chairman, remained
\nundeterred. \"I am glad they (the Alwi camp) are to use legal
\nmeans,\" he said on a separate occasion.<\/p>\n
The party's board of patrons fired Matori in July for
\ndisloyalty when he supported the impeachment of then president
\nAbdurrahman Wahid, the PKB's chief patron.<\/p>\n
Matori was then replaced by Alwi Sihab, but continued to
\ninsist his removal was illegal and has since stuck to his claim
\nthat he remains the legitimate PKB chief.<\/p>\n
Matori is also sticking to his claim that he is the only
\nperson who has the right to appoint PKB representatives to the
\nAssembly's leadership.<\/p>\n
In a piece of political acrobatics, he dismissed chief patron
\nAbdurrahman Wahid, who was one of the party's founding fathers.
\nMatori then appointed the unknown Ibrahim Lakoni from South
\nSumatra as Abdurrahman's successor.<\/p>\n
Matori, who is the minister of defense, played down his
\nrivals' threat of legal action, saying that Abdurrahman should
\nhave done the same when firing him.<\/p>\n
\"I don't take it so seriously, but I am glad that they are
\ngoing to use the legal way. It is quite an improvement,\" Matori
\ntold reporters at Merdeka Palace on Monday.<\/p>\n
For Alwi, a former foreign minister, what Matori was doing was
\na bad joke.<\/p>\n
\"Everybody knows that the PKB was founded by Nahdlatul Ulama
\n(the country's largest Muslim organization). How many ulemas
\nsupport Matori? How can he ignore this fact\" Alwi asked.<\/p>\n
The Alwi camp insisted that those attending the meeting were
\nnobodies from the provinces, probably activists from other minor
\nparties which failed to get seats in the House in the 1999
\nelection.<\/p>\n
Effendy charged that Matori was using the regional military
\ncommands to help get his supporters to Jakarta.<\/p>\n
For their part, Matori's supporters claimed that they were
\nintimidated by the Alwi supporters when departing for Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Harris Boenyamin of Probolinggo, East Java, said, \"I received
\nphone calls several times from my friends in the PKB who asked me
\nto cancel my trip. They said something would happen to me if I
\nwent,\" Harris said.<\/p>\n
He claimed that his friends who departed from Juanda airport
\nin Surabaya were also intimidated by Alwi supporters.<\/p>",
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