Alwi, Saefullah asked to drop lawsuit plan

JAKARTA: Alwi Shihab and Saefullah Yusuf have been offered an amicable way to solve their dispute with the National Awakening Party (PKB) over their suspension as the party's leader and secretary-general, respectively.

Senior PKB executive Khofifah Indar Parawansa advised the two current ministers in Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Cabinet on Monday to cancel their plan to bring the case to court and instead appoint senior clerics to mediate the rift for a settlement.

"I am sure this measure will be better to avoid the PKB from being stigmatized as a conflict-ridden party," she said.

Alwi and Saefullah were reportedly planning to file a lawsuit with the Central Jakarta District Court on Tuesday or Wednesday against the PKB's decision to make them non-active after they accepted appointments to the Susilo Cabinet last October.

The decision was endorsed by former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, who chairs the powerful PKB advisory board after a consultative meeting with the party's executive body. --Antara