Alwi Shihab faction told to cancel congress

Eva C. Komandjaja and Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Surabaya

The National Police have decided not to allow the chief welfare minister to organize a congress for his camp of the conflict- ridden National Awakening Party (PKB) in Surabaya, East Java, early next month.

National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Soenarko said on Tuesday that his office would not issue a permit for the two-day national congress scheduled to begin on Oct. 1, arguing that the government does not recognize Alwi as the legitimate PKB leader.

"We refer to a decree issued by the Minister of Justice and Human Rights on the composition of PKB central board members, which states that Muhaimin Iskandar is the party leader," he said.

The PKB has split into two factions -- one led by Alwi with State Minister for the Development of Disadvantaged Regions Saefullah Yusuf as secretary-general, and another camp led by Muhaimin, a deputy House of Representatives speaker.

Soenarko said the decision to ban the meeting was taken after an internal meeting between security affairs division head at the National Police headquarters Comr. Gen. Ismerda Lebang and East Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Edi Sunarno.

"Should they (the Alwi-led PKB faction) insist on holding the congress, we will persuade them not to go ahead," Soenarko said, who refrained from detailing how police would actually disperse them if they pressed ahead with the meeting.

However, congress organizing committee head Choirul Anam has claimed that his side had already obtained a permit to hold the meeting as scheduled at the Sukolilo haj dormitory in Surabaya.

Speaking to The Jakarta Post in Surabaya earlier on Tuesday, Anam said the committee had sent a letter to the National Police headquarters, East Java Police headquarters, East Surabaya Police precinct and Sukolilo Police sub-precinct, notifying them of the planned congress.

A number of senior PKB clerics, including Abdullah Faqih from the Langitan Islamic boarding school in Tuban and Idris Marzuki from the Lirboyo Islamic boarding school in Kediri, have approved the meeting and would be among those in attendance, Anam added.

The Alwi camp has trained some 1,000 civilian guards to ensure security during the event.

Meanwhile, the PKB's Muhaimin faction threatened to mobilize around 1,500 supporters to foil the congress by the rival camp.

"If we find Alwi's supporters using PKB paraphernalia during the event, we will force them to remove it," said Reylis Sumitra, a local deputy leader of PKB's youth movement.

He said Muhaimin's supporters, from Surabaya, Probolinggo and Pasuruan, had received martial arts training to support the anti-Alwi campaign.

Reylis had asked the East Java police to ban the congress because it would violate the judgment handed down by the South Jakarta Court last August, which favored the Muhaimin camp.

The court ruled that last year's dismissal of Alwi and Saefullah as PKB chairman and secretary-general by the Muhaimin faction was legitimate.

Both Alwi and Saefullah resisted the dismissals but lost in the court battle over the case. They are appealing the decision to the Supreme Court, while continuing their PKB political activities.

Former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, who had made Alwi his foreign minister during his 1999-2001 rule, is backing the Muhaimin faction, spurning the current chief welfare minister.