Alwi embraces NU but Matori turns back on it
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Reconciliation among rival leaders of the split National Awakening Party (PKB) remained elusive on Wednesday as the opposing camps went ahead with their preparations to hold separate PKB congresses.
Former foreign minister Alwi Shihab's camp will still rely on the support from traditional Muslim ulemas but the Matori camp vows it will seek support from the common people from a broad spectrum.
They are both sticking to their claim that their version of the PKB leadership is the legitimate one that retains the grassroots support. The PKB won the fourth most votes in the 1999 general elections and controls nearly 15 percent of the House of Representatives.
Alwi, who leads a PKB faction supported by former president Abdurrahman Wahid, said he was confident that the extraordinary congress from Jan. 16 to Jan. 19 will reaffirm his leadership in the party founded by Abdurrahman and other leaders of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).
"After each camp holds their own congress, we will know who will be supported by the NU Ulemas, the party founders," Alwi, said.
Meanwhile, Abdul Khaliq Ahmad, a secretary general from the PKB faction chaired by current Minister of Defense Matori Abdul Djalil, stressed that structurally PKB has no relation with NU, the largest Indonesian Islamic organization which claims to have 40 million members.
Khaliq said, NU leaders would not be invited to the party congress. "We will invite NU figures in their personal capacity not representing the organization because officially we have no relationship with NU," he added.
Matori, who became the PKB chairman when the party was founded in 1999, was fired from the top post, after he supported an impeachment against Abdurrahman, who is the chief of the party's board of patrons.
Matori was replaced by Alwi, but Matori insisted that he is a still the legal PKB chairman.
Matori's faction will kick off its version of the PKB congress on Jan. 14 next year, two days before the Alwi-Abdurrahman-NU party congress begins
Alwi insisted that the presence of NU Ulemas at the gathering will show the real support of the NU grassroots, therefore such presence will be more important than the presence of President Megawati Soekarnoputri, whom Matori has invited to his get- together.
Matori was appointed by Megawati -- presumably a favor for his support during Abdurrahman's fall from grace in July -- as minister of defense in her administration's Cabinet.
Alwi expressed his optimism that the PKB conflict will be settled after the meetings in January.
"Pak Matori finally will realize that he will not have the support of NU," he said, adding that he also had a guarantee from Taufik Kiemas, the president's husband, that Megawati will not attend Matori's congress.
Khaliq said that preparation for their version of the party congress was underway with three main agendas, Matori's accountability speech, revision of the party's internal constitution and the party's views on problems facing the nation.
He claimed that his congress will be attended by representatives from 200 PKB regency branches and city branches as well as 24 PKB provincial chapter representatives.