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.