Alwi, Saefullah asked to drop lawsuit plan

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