PKB -- A sad tale of a demoralized party

PKB -- A sad tale of a demoralized party

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Just six months ago, the National Awakening Party (PKB) was at
the forefront of national politics. But since its patriarch
Abdurrahman Wahid fell from the presidency in July, it has been
relegated to the fringes.

The fall of Abdurrahman was followed by leadership conflicts
within the PKB which have practically crippled the party that he
co-founded in 1999.

PKB has split. One faction is loyal to Alwi Shihab, a
confidante of Abdurrahman and the other faction is loyal to
Matori Abdul Djalil, the party's first chairman that Abdurrahman
fired for disloyalty.

Both Matori and Alwi claim to be the party's legitimate
leader.

In an interview with The Jakarta Post last week, Alwi said
that the PKB was trapped in an unfortunate political situation.
Abdurrahman lost the presidency and Matori allied with President
Megawati, Abdurrahman's political rival.

Megawati has cleverly played the PKB card. As the chairwoman
of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle she maintains good
relations with the Matori camp as well as the Alwi camp.

"We understand that the government wants to provide more time
for Matori, so PKB can find a solution that will not make him
lose face. And we also believe that the government does not have
any intention to break up the party," Alwi said.

Matori, who was also appointed by Megawati to be her minister
of defense, was fired by the party's chief, Abdurrahman, for
backing his impeachment in July, which led to Megawati's ascent
to the nation's top post.

Matori has exploited his position in the administration,
asking Megawati to attend his version of the party congress on
Jan. 14.

Meanwhile, the Alwi-Abdurrahman camp is strengthening support
from the grassroots groups within Nadhatul Ulama (NU), the
party's main political base and the largest Muslim organization
in the country.

The internal conflict also forced the government to postpone
the disbursement of Rp 13 billion (US$1.3million) in party aid
until a solution is found.

Alwi claimed that NU clerics (kyai) had expressed strong
support for his leadership and had offered mediation in the
leadership conflict but Matori refused to take them up on the
offer.

"All the Kyai support Abdurrahman's PKB and have ignored
Matori," said Masduki Mahfud a member of NU Consultative Body as
quoted by detik.com.

Alwi said that he had requested a meeting with Megawati to
inform her of the official PKB congress on Jan. 17 and to
reiterate that he does not hold a grudge toward her
administration.

"The government knows that our PKB is the one that has the
strong roots among the people. Should the government choose to
back Matori instead, then we will rename our party and have a
fair competition in the 2004 general elections," he said.