Gus Dur's PKB blames opponents for split
Gus Dur's PKB blames opponents for split
The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta/Jakarta
The National Awakening Party (PKB) accused former president
Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid's opponents on Friday of stage-
managing its internal rift in order to weaken the fourth biggest
party in the House of Representatives.
Gus Dur was toppled from the presidency last July by a
coalition of major political parties spearheaded by the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) and
Golkar Party.
His ouster led to the split of PKB into two factions after he
sacked his former confidante Matori Abdul Djalil as his party
chairman and appointed former foreign affairs minister Alwi
Shihab to replace him.
Matori was dismissed for supporting the impeachment of Gus Dur
that also brought the then vice president and PDI Perjuangan
chairwoman, Megawati Soekarnoputri, to the presidency.
Megawati appointed Matori as defense minister in her cabinet
apparently in return for his support and to protect him from
being embarrassed or sidelined by Gus Dur's allies in PKB.
Khofifah Indar Parawansa, a co-chairperson of Gus Dur's PKB
camp, said that Matori's backers played a key role in breaking up
the party founded by the country's largest Muslim organization
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).
"I hope that Pak Matori will soon realize that he is
acting as the puppet of PKB opponents," she said, apparently
referring to PDI Perjuangan and Golkar.
PKB managed to secure the fourth highest number of seats in
the 1999 election although it had only been established a few
months before the polls. Most of its voters were NU supporters in
Java.
The rift within the PKB has heightened since Matori's faction
insisted on holding a congress next week in Jakarta, while Alwi
Shihab's camp will hold a separate congress in Yogyakarta.
Matori claims to have won support from the government and said
Megawati would attend a PKB congress of his faction, even though
the plan has been denied by his rivals.
However, Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno hinted on
Friday that Megawati or cabinet ministers could attend Matori's
congress on Jan. 14-16 despite the internal dispute within the
PKB.
"There is no law prohibiting top officials from attending such
an event," he was quoted by Antara as saying.
Hari refused to comment on the government's stance on the PKB
rift, saying every political party is regarded as independent and
the government will not intervene in its affairs.
Matori has been given a chance to reconcile with the Alwi-led
PKB faction should he be ready to attend its Jan. 16-19 congress
in Yogyakarta, where he has to clarify his stance on his support
for Gus Dur's ouster.
Alwi expressed his optimism on Friday that he and Matori would
soon reunite in the PKB, although the NU said it has given up its
attempts to bring them back together again.
"If we are like a group of people who are stuck in a dark
cave, we are now reaching a point from where the bright light of
reconciliation is seen. There is already a light between us for
reconciliation," Alwi told reporters in Yogyakarta.
However, he did not elaborate further what new progress toward
reconciliation has been achieved.