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