PKB leadership battle hots up<\/p>\n
Bambang Nurbianto and Asip A. Hasani, The Jakarta Post,
\nJakarta\/Yogyakarta<\/p>\n
The impasse in the leadership tug of war which has split the
\nNational Awakening Party (PKB) has failed to dampen its
\npoliticians' ambitions to get to the top.<\/p>\n
While the upcoming congress of one camp will only formally
\ninstall Matori Abdul Djalil, competition for the top job in the
\ncamp loyal to Abdurrahman \"Gus Dur\" Wahid is heating up.<\/p>\n
Matori's congress in Jakarta on Jan. 14 will basically be a
\none-man show because he is unchallenged.<\/p>\n
The Gus Dur camp is obviously more luring for ambitious
\npoliticians. One more name made the list of candidates on
\nThursday, taking the total number to six.<\/p>\n
The latest figure to secure his name on the list was Marzuki
\nUsman, a former chief of the Investment Coordinating Board under
\nthe Soeharto regime and forestry minister under president
\nAbdurrahman Wahid.<\/p>\n
The others are Saifullah Yusuf, a nephew of Gus Dur; ex-
\nforeign minister and current acting PKB chairman Alwi Shihab;
\nformer defense minister Muhammad Mahfud MD; former research and
\ntechnology minister A.S. Hikam; and chairperson of the PKB
\nfaction in the House of Representatives, Ali Masykur Musa.<\/p>\n
Alwi and Saifullah are widely seen as the strongest candidates
\nto lead the party founded by leaders of the 40 million-strong
\nMuslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).<\/p>\n
Mahfud is expected to get the support of NU strongholds in
\nEast Java, particularly Madura Island, where he hails from.<\/p>\n
Saifullah, leader of Ansor, NU's youth wing, has had his
\nloyalty to PKB questioned by critics because he officially joined
\nPKB only last Tuesday after he served as a legislator for
\nPresident Megawati Soekarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of
\nStruggle (PDI Perjuangan).<\/p>\n
A reliable source said Saifullah was asked by Gus Dur, a
\nfounder of the PKB, to resign from PDI Perjuangan on the grounds
\nthat his uncle wanted him to lead the PKB. Gus Dur denied the
\nreport.<\/p>\n
Saifullah's candidacy has also provoked suspicion that he is
\nbeing used by PDI Perjuangan to spy on the PKB.<\/p>\n
Some pro-Abdurrahman PKB activists have suspected that PDI
\nPerjuangan has contributed to the worsening conflict plaguing the
\nPKB, the fourth largest party.<\/p>\n
They claim that PDI Perjuangan provides financial assistance
\nto Matori and Saifullah to keep the internal bickering aflame to
\ntarnish the PKB's image.<\/p>\n
Chairman of PDI Perjuangan's faction in the House Roy B.B.
\nJanis flatly rejected the charges, saying Saifullah had expressed
\nhis wish to shift his loyalty to the PKB long before Gus Dur was
\nfired as president last July.<\/p>\n
Megawati and Gus Dur were close allies until the impeachment
\nprocess which resulted in his ouster and to Megawati becoming
\npresident.<\/p>\n
Roy claimed that Megawati broke down to tears when Saifullah
\ninsisted on his plan to quit PDI Perjuangan.<\/p>\n
\"We have tried in vain to maintain his membership in PDI
\nPerjuangan. So, it is strange if our party is accused of
\nengineering Saifullah's retirement,\" Roy told the Post.<\/p>\n
The pro-Abdurrahman PKB faction will hold its extra-ordinary
\ncongress in the court city of Yogyakarta from Jan. 17 to Jan. 19.<\/p>\n
Yogyakarta Sultan Hemengku Buwono X met with the party's
\nofficial on Thursday to discuss the plan.<\/p>\n
\"Pak Sultan wished us luck and promised to address the
\ncongress,\" said Arifin Junaedi, the party's advisory board
\nsecretary.<\/p>",
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