Alwi Shihab a strong candidate for PKB chief

Asip A. Hasani and Blontank Poer, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Acting chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB) Alwi Shihab is likely to get elected to the party's top post after the chief of the party's board of patrons, Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, asked Saifullah Yusuf, Alwi's only serious rival, to withdraw his candidacy.

"Gus Dur has told Saifullah to be patient and not to take part in the election of the chairman," secretary of PKB's Board of Patrons Arifin Junaidi said on Saturday.

"Some elements in PKB and Nahdlatul Ulama have expressed objections to Saifullah's candidacy," Arifin told journalists, quoting Abdurrahman.

Being the founder of PKB and grandson of Hasyim Ashari, the founder of Nahdlatul Ulama, Abdurrahman wields strong influence in the party.

Arifin said Saifullah, Abdurrahman's nephew, should pave the way for Alwi to grab the party chairmanship.

Set up in July 1999 with majority support from Nahdlatul Ulama, the country's largest Muslim organization with 40 million members, PKB split into two rival groups in July after a faction led by Matori Abdul Djalid attended the extraordinary meeting of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which fired Abdurrahman, a founder of PKB.

Matori's PKB just finished holding its congress in Jakarta, while its rival, namely Alwi's PKB, ended its congress on Saturday evening.

Meanwhile, according to Arifin, the meeting between Abdurrahman and Saifullah took place on Friday morning at an undisclosed hotel here. However, Saifullah, was not available for comment.

Arifin said that Abdurrahman preferred Saifullah to hold the second highest position in the party's central executive board.

Saifullah had apparently no choice but to heed his uncle's order to withdraw from the party's chairmanship election.

Should Saifullah insist on going for the party chairmanship, it may disrupt party unity.

"Gus Dur believes that Saifullah loves his party, a party that has encouraged him to resign from PDI-Perjuangan," he said.

Saifullah's candidacy has sparked controversy among PKB's leaders, because he is considered a newcomer to the party.

Saifullah, a former chairman of NU's youth wing, GP Anshor, has just resigned from PDI-Perjuangan, on the grounds that "PKB is my true home."

His return to the PKB has drawn mixed response among congress participants. Several chapters have thrown their weight behind Alwi, while Saifullah has got strong support from GP Anshor, an organization he formerly chaired.

Other strong candidates for the party's top post are Marzuki Usman, Mahfud MD, Ali Masykur Musa and Muhammad AS Hikam.

Meanwhile, Saifullah has passed an obstacle in his pursuit to be elected party chairman. A plenary meeting, which was held last night, agreed to install Saifullah as an honorary member of the party.

This position, which was previously obtained by other newcomers to the party, such as AS Hikam and Mahfud MD, has granted him the right to race for the party's chairmanship.

An internal rule in the party rules that a member is allowed to race for the party chairmanship if they have been a member of the party for at least six months.