PKB divided over candidate choice<\/p>\n
M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta<\/p>\n
After sparking an internal rift in the country's largest Muslim
\norganization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) over the vice presidential
\ncandidacy of its leader Hasyim Muzadi, cofounder of the National
\nAwakening Party (PKB) Abdurrahman \"Gus Dur\" Wahid made a
\nstatement on Thursday that could incite a squabble within the
\nparty he helped create.<\/p>\n
In a press conference organized after talks with members of
\nthe Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu), Gus Dur lambasted
\nPKB leader Alwi Shihab for saying the party would support the
\npairing of Wiranto and Solahuddin Wahid of the Golkar Party in
\nthe July 5 polls.<\/p>\n
\"If Pak Alwi says PKB will support Wiranto it is up to him, it
\nis his business,\" the cleric said.<\/p>\n
He said that giving his blessing to Solahuddin to run as
\nWiranto's running mate did not mean that he altogether supported
\nthe pair.<\/p>\n
Gus Dur -- accompanied by his lawyers, Alwi and PKB central
\nboard member Mahfud MD -- met with Panwaslu to lodge a complaint
\nover the General Elections Commission's (KPU) ruling on
\ncompulsory health examinations for presidential and vice
\npresidential candidates.<\/p>\n
Gus Dur also said that he was ready to leave the PKB and found
\na new political party should the majority of PKB members disobey
\nhis orders.<\/p>\n
\"I am ready to set up my own political party, its name would
\nbe the free democratic party,\" he said.<\/p>\n
After registering his presidential bid with the KPU on
\nTuesday, Gus Dur said he would quit political life should the
\ncommission disqualify him for poor health. \"I have been involved
\nin politics for more than 30 years,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Alwi said, on that occasion, that if the KPU disqualified Gus
\nDur, the PKB would throw its weight behind the Wiranto-Solahuddin
\npairing.<\/p>\n
In the meeting with Panwaslu, Gus Dur boasted that millions of
\nhis supporters would choose abstention, if the commission
\ndeclared him unfit for the election.<\/p>\n
In late April, Gus Dur incited an internal split in the NU
\nafter he refused to support Hasyim as the running mate of
\nPresident Megawati Soekarnoputri of the Indonesian Democratic
\nParty of Struggle (PDI-P).<\/p>\n
Earlier, the NU had decided in a plenary session attended by
\ninfluential members of its syuriah (law-making bodies) and
\ntanfidziah (executive board) to let Hasyim enter the presidential
\nrace.<\/p>\n
Saying that most NU clerics had given him their blessing, Gus
\nDur decided to join the presidential race.<\/p>\n
The visually impaired former president was impeached by the
\nPeople's Representatives Assembly (MPR) in 2001 for incompetence
\nand erratic behavior.<\/p>",
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