NU leaders give up efforts to reconcile PKB factions

NU leaders give up efforts to reconcile PKB factions

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the country's largest Muslim organization,
which gave birth to the National Awakening Party (PBK), is giving
up its exhausting attempts to reconcile two rival factions within
the party, citing irreconcilable differences between the two
groups.

"We have worked hard to reconcile the two groups but failed
because each faction has insisted on its own stance. We will
simply wait and see what happens next," NU Central Executive
Board Chairman Hasyim Muzadi told The Jakarta Post here on
Thursday.

Set up in 1999 with the majority support of NU's 45 million
members, PKB split into two groups in July 2001 after a small
faction led by party chairman Matori Abdul Djalil attended the
Special Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR). The
session ousted then president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, PKB's
founder and installed then Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri
as his successor.

Despite heavy pressure from PKB leaders and legislators,
Matori, who was later appointed defense minister in Megawati's
Gotong Royong Cabinet, refused to resign from the party,
prompting PKB leaders to fire him and give the chairmanship to
then foreign affairs minister Alwi Sihab.

Both, however, claim to be the legitimate PKB leader. Only
four of PKB's 51 legislators support Matori.

The Matori faction will convene a leadership congress from
Jan. 14 through Jan. 16 in Jakarta, while the Alwi faction will
organize a similar event from Jan. 17 through Jan. 19 in
Yogyakarta.

Hasyim said on Thursday that leaders of NU provincial branches
would meet in Jakarta on Jan. 13, just one day before Matori's
faction begins its three-day congress, to discuss another
approach for reconciling the two rival groups.

"The meeting will also discuss the possibility of issuing an
edict urging NU members to recognize just one of the two
factions," he said.

The edict would likely give tacit support to the Alwi faction,
where former president Gus Dur serves as chief of the powerful
board of patrons.

Gus Dur reiterated on Thursday that he would reject
reconciliation if Matori insisted on claiming that he was the
legitimate leader of PKB.

"Islah (reconciliation) cannot be achieved if both sides claim
they are equally right," Gus Dur told the Post.

He said his PKB faction would change its name should Matori's
group win recognition from President Megawati Soekarnoputri's
government. "The new name could be the 'Real PKB' or something
similar," he added.

Asked about Matori's insistence on maintaining his position,
Gus Dur said Matori relied solely on the government's support for
him.

Megawati met Hasyim last week for the first time since Gus
Dur's downfall, and told him that she wanted the rival PKB groups
to reunite and hold only one congress to resolve their bitter
dispute.

However, a reliable source told the Post on Thursday that
during the meeting, which was also attended by Matori, Megawati
tried to persuade Hasyim to stand behind the splinter PKB group,
but Hasyim rejected the request, saying that he supported neither
of them.

"Ibu Mega asked Pak Hasyim to side with Matori. She also sent
one of her people to demand that PKB accommodate Matori and not
embarrass him," the source said.

The source also said NU ulemas did a similar thing during
their recent meeting in the Langitan Islamic boarding school in
the East Java town of Tuban, asking Hasyim to take a stance in
favor of Alwi's faction.

Hasyim turned down their demand, too. "We understand this
because Pak Hasyim must protect NU members from being abused by a
certain political interest," the source added.

But Hasyim denied on Thursday that Megawati had appealed to
him to side with Matori. "The report is not true," he said.

Hasyim admitted the government had tended to support Matori's
faction as a way of thanking him for being loyal to Megawati
during the 2001 special session.

Asked further about Matori's refusal to reconcile, Hasyim said
the defense minister harbored political ambitions to show his
mettle after having been sacked as PKB chairman.

He warned Matori of being manipulated by Gus Dur's opponents
to undermine NU and PKB for their own political interests, should
he refuse to unite again.

Meanwhile, Alwi again urged Matori to use his "common sense"
in responding to the reconciliation offer and to cancel his
planned congress, saying the conflict would only inflict losses
on all sides, including his own.

"It is the final call from me for the sake of PKB and the
nationalist faction," Alwi told a press conference on Thursday.

He said he could guarantee that Matori would be pardoned by
PKB leaders if he accepted the reconciliation offer and attended
the planned party congress in Yogyakarta.

He said his faction had made an offer to Matori for him to
serve as one of the members of the PKB board of patrons in the
next party leadership lineup.

Alwi also warned Megawati against backing Matori, saying the
move could spark anger among ulemas and other supporters of NU.

During the media conference, Alwi distributed copies of an
invitation to Matori to attend the Yogyakarta congress, at which
he could clarify the stance he took when he supported the ouster
of Gus Dur.