PKB considers reviewing decision on top official<\/p>\n
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Bowing to demands from influential clerics from the Nahdlatul
\nUlama (NU), the National Awakening Party (PKB) said on Wednesday
\nthat it would review its decision to reposition party secretary-
\ngeneral Syaifullah Yusuf.<\/p>\n
PKB deputy chairman Mahfud MD said on Wednesday that PKB
\nleaders would hold a plenary meeting on Friday to, among other
\nthings, evaluate the earlier decision to replace Syaifullah.<\/p>\n
\"We plan to hold a plenary meeting on Friday to discuss issues
\nrelated to the reshuffle of party executives,\" Mahfud said.<\/p>\n
\"I hope we can avoid further politicking, which of course
\nwould only hamper the party's consolidation and unity.<\/p>\n
\"At the meeting, whether we agree with the decision or whether
\nwe reject it will be discussed,\" Mahfud said.<\/p>\n
The conflict was sparked when the party's advisory body voted
\nto suspend Syaifullah for his alleged violation of party
\npolicies, and replaced him with Muhyidin Arubusman, the incumbent
\nNU secretary-general.<\/p>\n
The decision was taken in a meeting presided over by PKB chief
\npatron Abdurrahman \"Gus Dur\" Wahid, one of the declarators of
\nPKB.<\/p>\n
The decision raised concerns among NU clerics who later sent a
\nletter to PKB, criticizing its \"one-man show\" party tradition and
\nblaming its executives for failing to be professional.<\/p>\n
The clerics' stance brought the friction between Gus Dur and
\ninfluential clerics of the country's largest Muslim organization
\ninto the open, but NU expected that the conflict would soon be
\nresolved.<\/p>\n
\"We accept the criticism (from NU clerics) as an expression of
\ntheir concern about the party's future. The criticism also shows
\nthat there is a psychological relationship between NU and PKB,\"
\nMahfud said.<\/p>\n
PKB is known as a political party strongly supported by NU
\nclerics and followers. It was established in 1998 by several NU
\nfigures, including Gus Dur, who at the time was chairman of the
\norganization that has some 40 million members.<\/p>\n
The party won 15 percent of the votes in the 1999 election,
\nthe first since the forced resignation of former authoritarian
\nleader Soeharto in May 1998.<\/p>\n
The same advisory board recommended the dismissal of former
\nparty chairman Matori Abdul Djalil, now Defense Minister, for
\nattending a People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) meeting that
\nousted Gus Dur from his presidential post in 2001.<\/p>\n
That recommendation was approved by the party's executive
\nboard.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/pkb-considers-reviewing-decision-on-top-official-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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