Election of new chief not expected to heal PKB rift

Election of new chief not expected to heal PKB rift

The Jakarta Post, Semarang/Cirebon

The election of House of Representatives deputy speaker Muhaimin
Iskandar as the new National Awakening Party (PKB) leader here
early on Tuesday is not likely to end the internal rift within
the party, as his rivals vowed to press ahead with legal action
to be reinstated as party executives.

Alwi Shihab and Saifullah Yusuf, who were suspended as PKB
chairman and secretary-general respectively last year, demanded a
"status quo" for the conflict-ridden party until after the court
settles the case.

Alwi, the current coordinating minister for people's welfare,
is suing the PKB central board for his suspension which came into
effect after he and Saifullah joined President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono's Cabinet.

A similar lawsuit was also planned by Saifullah, the state
minister for the development of disadvantaged regions.

In a press conference on Tuesday morning, Alwi and Saifullah
said they would write to all of the party's provincial and
regency branches across the country, asking them to state their
loyalty for their leadership.

The news briefing was attended by former PKB deputy leader
Muhammad A.S. Hikam, East Java's party leader Khoirul Anam and
South Sulawesi party leader Muhtar Thahir.

They said the PKB national congress in the Central Java
capital of Semarang, which elected Muhaimin unanimously as new
party tanfidziyah (executive) chairman and retained Abdurrahman
"Gus Dur" Wahid as chief patron or syuro (consultative) head, was
illegitimate.

Their stance was supported by senior clerics, who still
recognize the leadership of Alwi and Saifullah in the party
founded six years ago by the country's largest Muslim
organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).

They were mostly the same ulema, including Mas Subadar,
Muhaiminan Gunardho, Abdurrahman Khudori, Munawir and Nurul Huda
Jazuli, who all backed Gus Dur's failed bid to vie for the
chairmanship of NU's powerful law-making (syuria) board last
December.

Another influential cleric Addib Rofi'uddin Izza from Cirebon,
West Java, put his weight behind the anti-Gus Dur camp on
Tuesday.

Izza, a syuria board member, suggested the NU would further
reaffirm its stance not to support the PKB in protest against the
congress.

The election of Muhaimin, a young politician and a nephew of
Gus Dur, was a foregone conclusion. His win came hours after four
rival candidates -- Mahfudh MD, Ali Masykur Moesa, Muhammad A.S.
Hikam and Saifullah who is also Gus Dur's nephew -- withdrew
their bids.

They pulled out of the leadership race as the congress set
tough requirements for candidates, which were apparently designed
to benefit the camp of Muhaimin, who was also chief organizer of
the three-day event.

Under PKB's statutes, a candidate must be active in the party
for five years, secure support from 12 provincial and 150 regency
branches and have never have come into conflict with the chief
patron.

Furthermore, the candidate must not be an active executive of
a social organization or hold a government post. Each province
and regency has one vote in the election.

In the first round of the election, Mahfudh, Ali Masykur and
Saifullah got only two, 27 and 26 votes respectively, while
Muhaimin secured 351 votes and was subsequently declared the
winner because the other three contenders were not eligible to
contest the second round.

Hours earlier, Gus Dur was similarly reelected unanimously as
the PKB chief patron for the 2005-2010 period after none of the
460 voters nominated any other contender.

On the first day of the congress, the same NU ulema who defied
Gus Dur announced support for the nomination of little-known
cleric Ma'ruf Amin. However, the challenger's bid was not put
forward during the election.

Gus Dur and Muhaimin are now being assisted by a team of five
delegates -- Lukman Edi representing Sumatra, Hamdan Ahmad (Java
and Bali), Rosihan (Kalimantan and Sulawesi), Abdul Hamid
Latuconsina (Maluku and Papua), and women's representative
Badriah Wahyuni -- to set up a new central executive board of the
party within seven days.

Speaking after his reelection, Gus Dur admitted many clerics
gave their backing to Alwi and Saifullah, but stressed that it
was evident that many more attended the congress in support of
the former president's camp.

Muhaimin, meanwhile, said he would persuade those opposed to
the conference to join his faction to develop the PKB.