Gus Dur accuses Amien of having a game with him

LOMBOK, West Nusa Tenggara (JP): Doubts over an unprecedented coalition of parties fighting pro-status quo forces were strengthened on Sunday when the prominent leader of the National Awakening Party (PKB), Abdurrahman Wahid, accused National Mandate Party (PAN) chairman Amien Rais of playing games.

Speaking on the sidelines of a campaign rally here, Abdurrahman, better known as Gus Dur, expressed discontent with a recent deal Amien signed with two other Muslim-oriented parties, the United Development Party (PPP) and the Justice Party (PK).

Amien, Abdurrahman and Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri previously signed a joint communique to combine force to defeat the pro-status quo forces in the June elections.

"I don't know why Amien secretly tied himself to another agreement with other parties. He must be hiding something from us," Abdurrahman said at Komarul Huda Islamic boarding school.

Amien is the former chairman of Muhammadiyah, a Muslim organization which is a rival of Nahdlatul Ulama, the Muslim organization chaired by Abdurrahman.

On Friday, Amien said the accord among PAN, PPP and PK was aimed at giving a further boost to the first joint communique. He added that Abdurrahman had given the "green light" to the new coalition.

Unlike the previous agreement, the latest accord explicitly states that PAN, PPP and PK are against incumbent President B.J. Habibie's nomination as a presidential candidate.

Abdurrahman said Amien's new agreement did not bother his party, saying the joint communique his party singed with PAN and PDI Perjuangan did not necessarily have to continue after the June elections.

"It (the joint communique) is a joint front, not exactly a coalition or cooperation. We may only decide to coalesce if the poll results go our way," a local correspondent quoted him as saying.

A PKB executive in Medan, Aris Azhari Siagian, joined the chorus of opposition to Amien's latest agreement. Aris, deputy secretary of PKB's North Sumatra chapter, labeled Amien as "too ambitious" in mobilizing reform forces.

"The new joint communique signed by PAN, PPP and PK will not benefit the reform movement," Aris said.

Aris and the secretary of the PKB chapter, Marwan Dasopang, said they would urge top party executives to review its agreement with PAN.

Supporters of PKB and PPP have been involved in a series of clashes across Java recently. One such clash erupted in the Central Java town of Jepara shortly before the campaign began, leaving four dead.

Aris said that although PKB relied on Muslim voters, it was a secular and nationalist-oriented party.

Opposition to the PAN, PPP and PK pact also came from PPP supporters. In the Sleman regency of Yogyakarta, some 500 PPP supporters marched to Sumbersari soccer field, the venue for an outdoor rally held by the party's provincial chapter.

Carrying placards denouncing PPP chairman Hamzah Haz for his plan to jump on the bandwagon of the reform forces, the group accused party leaders of breaching an agreement not to coalesce with non-Muslim-oriented parties.

In Purwokerto, Central Java, Golkar deputy chairman Slamet Effendy Yusuf played down the planned coalition of opposition parties, calling it "a waste of energy".

Speaking during a rally on Sunday, Slamet said Golkar was prepared to fight the coalition, which he described as fragile.

"It is a floating coalition because there is no mutual agreement among them and each of them goes its own way," Slamet said. He predicted the coalition would break down after the June polls due to principle differences among the parties. (40/44/45/amd)