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.