Gus Dur wins unexpected support from Saifullah

Gus Dur wins unexpected support from Saifullah

The Jakarta Post, Semarang

In a bizarre move, National Awakening Party (PKB) leadership
contender Saifullah Yusuf announced his support on Sunday for his
bitter opponent Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid's reelection as the
party's powerful chief patron.

Saifullah's statement came as almost all the party's
provincial chapters openly backed Gus Dur's bid.

The majority of the PKB's 33 provincial branches also accepted the
central board's accountability report, despite its controversial
decision to suspend Saifullah and Alwi Shihab respectively as the
party's secretary-general and chairman last year.

Only East Java, the party's stronghold, abstained on the
question of whether to accept or reject the report, while four
chapters questioned the central board's suspension of Saifullah
and Alwi.

Most provincial boards also publicly supported the nomination
of Muhaimin Iskandar to the PKB tanfidziyah (executive) board's
leadership as running mate for Gus Dur.

Saifullah secured support only from East Kalimantan, while
the South Sulawesi delegation expressed its backing for him but
stopped short of formalizing its stance during Sunday's plenary
session.

Another candidate, Ali Masykur Moesa, a close ally of Gus Dur,
received support from only two provinces: West Irian Jaya and
Gorontalo. None of the provincial branches stated their
backing for the other contender, Mahfud MD, the acting PKB
chairman.

However, the latest developments do not mean that Gus Dur and
his loyal nephew, Muhaimin, will secure the posts, as the
elections to the tanfidziyah and syuro (consultative) boards
involve 410 regency and 33 provincial branches.

The three-day congress is scheduled to end on Monday
night after elections.

Outside the congress arena, a spokesman for the Saifullah
camp, Chotibul Umam Wiranu, said Saifullah had yet to decide on
whether to press ahead with his nomination or not.

"We will leave it to the party branches," Umam told a press
conference at the Horison Hotel here on Sunday.

He said Saifullah would continue to support Gus Dur's bid for
the chairmanship of the powerful syuro.

"Gus Dur is an asset and the savior of the PKB. Without him,
the party would be at risk of breaking up," Umam quoted Saifullah
as saying.

Saifullah, the State Minister for the Development of Disadvantaged
Regions, is expected to appear for the first time at the congress
on Monday, said his ally, Mahfud Candra Negara.

Asked about the nomination by a number of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU)
clerics of little-known cleric Ma'ruf Amin to challenge Gus Dur,
Umam denied Saifullah's had a role in move.

"The political move should not be understood as an intention
to nominate the pairing of Ma'ruf and Saifullah," Umam said.

Asked about the clerics' motives, Umam said they considered
the PKB chief patron to have defied them. "He's no longer
listened to by the ulemas," Umam said.

Saifullah and Alwi were suspended after the pair accepted
ministerial posts in the Cabinet of President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono last October. The PKB has banned its executives from
holding government posts to avoid conflicts of interest.

A clash marred the congress on Sunday, injuring Jhoni Soebagio
and Abdullah Faqih, two rival PKB members from Banyuwangi in East
Java.

Banyuwangi PKB leader Wahyudi said Jhoni had started the
scuffle by seizing his ID card and attempting to throttle him.
But Jhoni countered by branding Wahyudi an unregistered delegate
and linking him to an attempt to murder Gus Dur.

Earlier in the day, Gus Dur accused Banyuwangi PKB
executives of involvement in a conspiracy aimed at killing him,
but refused to reveal names nor say when the attempt on his life
took place.

Gus Dur said the election of Wahyudi as the local party leader
violated the party's statutes. The former president also accused
Faqih of involvement in a fuel adulteration business.