Matori's PKB to hold national meeting

Matori's PKB to hold national meeting

JAKARTA: After winning a legal case against Alwi Shihab's camp
of the National Awakening Party (PKB), its rival camp chaired by
Matori Abdul Djalil is set to hold a national meeting in June.

The meeting, to be held in Central Java, aims at internally
consolidating the party in order to contend the 2004 general
elections and the first-ever direct presidential election.

Matori's camp has reportedly expressed their political
commitment to support former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur"
Wahid's candidacy in the presidential election, but Gus Dur
rejected their support.

The South Jakarta District Court decided last week that the
dismissal of Matori as PKB chairman was not legally valid.

Matori was fired from the party's top position and his
membership revoked following his show of support in the 2001
special session of the People's Consultative Assembly that
impeached then-president Gus Dur and appointed then-vice
president Megawati Soekarnoputri as president until 2004. Her
appointed presidency landed him in his current job as defense
minister.

Matori formed his own camp of the PKB after his membership was
stripped.

The major camp of the PKB led by Alwi held its national
meeting here last week, naming Gus Dur as their presidential
candidate. -- JP