Alwi faction sets conditions for PKB reconciliation

Alwi faction sets conditions for PKB reconciliation

Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The National Awakening Party (PKB) faction led by Coordinating
Minister for People's Welfare Alwi Shihab said on Wednesday the
divided party could only be reconciled if the results of the
PKB's recent congress were annulled and an extraordinary congress
called.

If the PKB's central board, chaired by House of
Representatives Deputy Speaker Muhaimin Iskandar, refuses to
organize an extraordinary congress, the Alwi camp said it would
hold its own leadership congress.

The PKB was divided into two factions after Muhaimin was
elected as its new executive chairman and former president
Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid was retained as the PKB's chief
patron during a three-day national congress that began on April
16 in Semarang, Central Java.

Alwi, backed by a group of influential clerics who cofounded
the PKB in 1999, called the national congress illegitimate
because it failed to involve him and State Minister for the
Development of Disadvantaged Regions Saifullah Yusuf.

Alwi and Saifullah were suspended as PKB chairman and PKB
secretary-general respectively after joining the Cabinet of
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, whose presidential nomination
was opposed by the PKB.

The two are suing the party's central board over the
suspensions, which they say violated the party's statutes.

The suspensions were decided on during a plenary meeting of
the central board, which agreed to ban PKB executives from
serving in government posts. The party's statutes do not say
anything about executives holding dual positions.

Earlier, the Muhaimin faction of the PKB opened the
possibility of Alwi or Saifullah joining the central board in a
show of reconciliation. Muhaimin announced the lineup of his
central board on Sunday, leaving the post of deputy chairman
vacant.

The new PKB board submitted its lineup on Wednesday to the
Ministry of Justice and Human Rights to register with the
government.

Newly appointed PKB secretary-general Muhammad Lukman Edy
insisted on the legitimacy of the Semarang congress, despite the
absence of Alwi and Syaifullah.

However, PKB legislator Muhammad A.S. Hikam, who opposed the
Semarang congress, said during a news conference on Wednesday the
justice ministry should not accept the new party board, which he
said was "illegitimate".

"As stated in Law No. 31/2002 on political parties, the
existing board must remain in place during a dispute until a
resolution is reached. After all, the ministry has not received
any letter informing it of the suspension or dismissal of Alwi
and Saifullah," he said.

According to the law, any changes to a party's organizational
structure must be registered with the justice ministry within 30
days of the change, Hikam added.

He said the Alwi camp also had received the written support of
260 of 430 party branches across the country, as well as senior
clerics based in East Java and Central Java, PKB's two main
strongholds.

"And, as stipulated in the law on political parties, we also
call on all regional general elections councils and local
legislative councils not to process any letters or policies that
do not have the signatures of Alwi or Saifullah," said Hikam.

In response, PKB deputy head and legislator Effendy Choirie,
who is on Muhaimin's central board, said if the justice ministry
rejected the new executive board, "we have masses, but we hope
this will not happen". 004