Clerics back Alwi despite court loss

Clerics back Alwi despite court loss

SURABAYA: Senior Muslim clerics of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) have
rejected a court decision to throw out a lawsuit by chief welfare
minister Alwi Shihab aimed at reinstating his leadership of the
National Awakening Party (PKB).

In a meeting on Tuesday at the residence of charismatic cleric
Abdullah Faqih in Langitan, Tuban, East Java, the ulema backed
Alwi's move to appeal against the verdict handed down last week
by the South Jakarta District Court.

The court ruled that Alwi's dismissal as the PBK chairman
through a plenary meeting of the party's central board last year
was legitimate.

The PKB elected House of Representatives Deputy Speaker
Muhaimin Iskandar during a national congress in Semarang, Central
Java in April, to replace Alwi and retained former president
Abdurrahman Wahid as chief patron.

"In the meeting, we stuck to our view that the PKB congress in
Semarang was illegitimate and legally and morally flawed. It's
impossible for us to follow anything that cannot be made
accountable," forum spokesman Anwar Iskandar said on Tuesday.

He said the meeting recommended that the Alwi-led PKB camp go
ahead with its plan to hold an extraordinary congress to elect a
new party leader. --Antara