PKB considers reviewing decision on top official
PKB considers reviewing decision on top official
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Bowing to demands from influential clerics from the Nahdlatul
Ulama (NU), the National Awakening Party (PKB) said on Wednesday
that it would review its decision to reposition party secretary-
general Syaifullah Yusuf.
PKB deputy chairman Mahfud MD said on Wednesday that PKB
leaders would hold a plenary meeting on Friday to, among other
things, evaluate the earlier decision to replace Syaifullah.
"We plan to hold a plenary meeting on Friday to discuss issues
related to the reshuffle of party executives," Mahfud said.
"I hope we can avoid further politicking, which of course
would only hamper the party's consolidation and unity.
"At the meeting, whether we agree with the decision or whether
we reject it will be discussed," Mahfud said.
The conflict was sparked when the party's advisory body voted
to suspend Syaifullah for his alleged violation of party
policies, and replaced him with Muhyidin Arubusman, the incumbent
NU secretary-general.
The decision was taken in a meeting presided over by PKB chief
patron Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, one of the declarators of
PKB.
The decision raised concerns among NU clerics who later sent a
letter to PKB, criticizing its "one-man show" party tradition and
blaming its executives for failing to be professional.
The clerics' stance brought the friction between Gus Dur and
influential clerics of the country's largest Muslim organization
into the open, but NU expected that the conflict would soon be
resolved.
"We accept the criticism (from NU clerics) as an expression of
their concern about the party's future. The criticism also shows
that there is a psychological relationship between NU and PKB,"
Mahfud said.
PKB is known as a political party strongly supported by NU
clerics and followers. It was established in 1998 by several NU
figures, including Gus Dur, who at the time was chairman of the
organization that has some 40 million members.
The party won 15 percent of the votes in the 1999 election,
the first since the forced resignation of former authoritarian
leader Soeharto in May 1998.
The same advisory board recommended the dismissal of former
party chairman Matori Abdul Djalil, now Defense Minister, for
attending a People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) meeting that
ousted Gus Dur from his presidential post in 2001.
That recommendation was approved by the party's executive
board.