Abdurrahman Wahid to democratize his National Awakening Party
Tiarma Siboro and Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Yogyakarta
Widely derided as "undemocratic", the National Awakening Party under the leadership of Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid is to change its leadership structure.
The key post to reform is the board of patrons, which has practically become an unchallenged decision-making body.
Khofifah Indar Parawansa, a deputy party chief, said on Monday that the Jan. 17 to Jan. 19 extraordinary party congress in Yogyakarta was aimed at reforming the party's constitution and reducing the board's power.
"In the future, the highest decision making body will be the congress not the board of patrons," Khofifah said in a media conference.
The board of patrons is reminiscent of that of the Golkar Party under the then president Soeharto. Like in Golkar, PKB's board practically dictates whatever it thinks best for the party.
PKB's board of patrons is currently chaired by Abdurrahman, its most charismatic leader who cofounded the party in 1999.
The party, the fourth largest with 11 percent seats in the House of Representatives, has now split in two with the pro- Abdurrahman group headed by Alwi Shihab and a splinter group headed by Matori Abdul Djalil, the Minister of Defense.
Matori, whom Abdurrahman dismissed from the party for disloyalty, insists that he is the legitimate leader of PKB and plans to hold his own congress from Jan. 14 to Jan. 16, 2002 in Jakarta.
He said on Friday that his congress would be attended by President Megawati Soekarnoputri as a demonstration of her support. Megawati has neither confirmed nor denied the claim.
Khofifah said that the congress would elect members of the board of patrons and board of executives.
Alwi, a former minister of foreign affairs in Abdurrahman's 20-month government, is a strong candidate for PKB chairmanship.
While Abdurrahman's nephew, Syaifullah Yusuf -- currently a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), will be his contender.
In Yogyakarta, Mahfud MD, vice chairman of PKB's central executive board chaired by Alwi Shihab, urged the government and other political parties not to place any importance in the PKB chaired by Minister of Defense Matori Abdul Djalil, saying the rival party had no supporters.
"I just want to say that any parties wanting to be in power in 2004 need a coalition. The PKB chaired by Alwi Shihab has all the requirements to be a strong coalition partner, especially to unite nationalists and moderate Islamic groups," Mahfud told a media gathering here on Tuesday.
"Besides, we are quite optimistic that (our) PKB will be one of the three or even two biggest parties to win the next election," said Mahfud, expecting that his PKB would win 95 percent of the PKB vote.
"We therefore urge nationalist political groups in the country not to mistakenly take Matori's PKB as a partner as it has no supporters," said Mahfud, who is also a former minister of defense.
The dispute between Matori's and Alwi's camps has been heating up in the past few days, particularly due to Alwi's PKB extraordinary congress from Jan. 17 to Jan. 19 in Yogyakarta.
Mahfud said that the organizing committee would invite Matori to the congress to hear the party's explanation for his dismissal as the party's chairman and give him a chance to present his defense.
Matori plans to hold a rival congress from Jan. 14 to Jan. 16 in Jakarta.