Cholil Bisri installation signals declining support for Matari

Annastashya Emmanuelle and Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The installment of Cholil Bisri on Wednesday as deputy speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) highlights the waning of political support for influential Muslim politician Matori Abdul Djalil who is also the defense minister.

The lack of support for Matori was already apparent last week when 60-year-old Cholil was handpicked by MPR leaders as a candidate for deputy speaker.

A respected Muslim cleric and legislator coming from Matori's rival political party bearing the same name of National Awakening Party (PKB), Cholil is in the same camp as Gus Dur, as former president Abdurrahman Wahid is often called.

The installment of one of the seven MPR deputies came about despite a legal battle between the opposing PKB camps and appeared to be a strong blow for Matori, a former Assembly deputy speaker himself.

On the other hand the installment may signify a move by Megawati Soekarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) to establish a firm footing among the grassroots for the 2004 elections.

Briefing the press after the ceremony, MPR speaker Amien Rais said MPR leaders saw to it that the demand of 47 members of Alwi's PKB was fulfilled.

He reiterated that the Assembly's decision to endorse Cholil's nomination was based on the fact that the majority of PKB legislators lent support to Cholil rather than to Syarif Usman Yahya, a candidate from Matori's PKB.

Matori's aide Abdul Khalik Ahmad lamented the hasty decision of the Assembly leaders, saying that the decision should have been made after the legal battle between the two warring factions ended.

Matori earned Gus Dur's ire last July when he attended an MPR special session to oust Gus Dur. He was dismissed as PKB leader and Gus Dur put former foreign minister Alwi Shihab in his stead.

In retaliation Matori set up a splinter PKB party in January, refusing to recognize Alwi's leadership. His party's faction has only four members in the MPR. It requires a minimum of 10 members to form a faction.

Gus Dur, who founded PKB in 1998, was a long time chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama, the spiritual counterpart of the party, which claims more than 40 million members. An alliance between PKB and PDI Perjuangan who enjoys the grassroots' nationalists support would therefore be formidable.

Husband of President Megawati Soekarnoputri, Taufik Kiemas visited Gus Dur on Tuesday in a move widely seen as an effort to mend ties with the cleric.

Political observers said it would take more than just installing Cholil and a courtesy visit to Gus Dur -- where Taufik bowed to kiss Wahid's hand as a gesture of respect -- to gain PKB's support.

The visit occurred as a number of Islamic political parties have been holding regular meetings dubbed the Muslim caucus in the last few months.

Cholil, who comes from Alwi Shihab's PKB, garnered 47 out of 49 votes at the Assembly to win the post which has been left vacant for the past eight months.

"It's clear to PDI Perjuangan that most Muslim clerics in Nahdlatul Ulama and PKB support Alwi's PKB rather than Matori's, and it would be more useful to have their support," said Arbi Sanit, a political observer from the University of Indonesia, who is known as a sympathizer of Gus Dur.

PDI Perjuangan, however, brushed off the speculation, saying that their party merely agrees with the decision of the People's Consultative Assembly.

"Our guide is the aspirations of the House, besides the (deputy speaker) post needs to be filled in immediately," PDI Perjuangan deputy chairman Roy B. Janis told The Jakarta Post.