Alwi to meet Amien over PKB faction

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

Elected National Awakening Party (PKB) chairman Alwi Shihab said he would meet People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien Rais on Monday to claim his party's right to the assembly's deputy chairmanship post left vacant by defense minister Matori Abdul Djalil.

Alwi said Amien had promised to seek a solution to the issue which had caused headaches among assembly leaders following Matori's dismissal as PKB chairman last July and the ensuing split in the party.

"Pak Amien once said that there was only one real PKB, while the other was fake. If the assembly takes the public's wide support for us into account in determining who is the original PKB, then they should soon approve our candidate Cholil Bisri as MPR deputy speaker replacing Matori," Alwi said.

"Given the fact that all PKB founders attended our congress here and confirmed their support for us, there should be no doubt on the MPR's part to recognize us as the real PKB."

Alwi was speaking after the closing of the PKB's extraordinary congress which unanimously elected him chairman and justified the dismissal of Matori.

Most Assembly legislators representing PKB belong to Alwi's camp.

Matori was fired for attending the MPR special session that impeached President Abdurrahman Wahid, who is the party's chief patron, and named Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri his replacement in July last year. The party had boycotted the session.

Matori, who Megawati appointed as the defense minister, held his own PKB congress that kept him as the party chairman last week. He has repeatedly claimed his camp's right to the Assembly deputy speaker post.

A court battle between the two camps looks certain.

Separately, Amien expressed concern over internal conflicts currently rocking some of the country's major political parties. He said the disputes would undermine democracy, which found a fertile soil to grow in following the fall of the 32-year-old authoritarian regime of former president Soeharto in 1998.

"Political parties are the pillars of democracy. How will democracy be upheld if the pillars deteriorate or break down?" Amien told Antara on the sidelines of his National Mandate Party (PAN) function in Jakarta.

Amien, who chairs PAN, was referring to the split in PKB and the Muslim-based United Development Party (PPP).

But he played down speculation that either the government or the military had played a role in the internal dispute facing the two parties.

"I'm not sure if the present government could emulate the country's past regime. The current government is already busy defusing many problems facing the country," he said.