PKB dispute may end in legal battle

Asip A. Hasani, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

With hopes of addressing the internal rift in the National Awakening Party (PKB) already up in smoke, the camp loyal to former president Abdurrahman Wahid is eying a legal battle in the near future.

PKB deputy chairman Mahfud MD told a media conference on Friday that the legal fight was inevitable as all political parties contesting the 2004 elections have to register themselves with the general election committee.

The election law forbids any similarity in name, logo or other attributes of parties.

"Actually we don't really care about name and logo because we believe that our constituents won't follow Matori even if he wins its claim," Mahfud said in reference to Matori Abdul Djalil who has formed the splinter party.

He was speaking after a closed-door meeting with Abdurrahman, the party's co-founder and chief patron, on the sidelines of its extraordinary congress here.

PKB under acting chairman Alwi Shihab is convening to elect a new chairman, draw up a new platform and seek approval of the dismissal of Matori.

"They will emulate the PDI under Soerjadi," Mahfud added, referring to the government-backed Indonesian Democratic Party which ousted Megawati Soekarnoputri as its chairwoman in 1996.

PDI won a single House of Representatives seat in the 1999 elections, compared to 153 won by Megawati's PDI Perjuangan.

Mahfud believes that the PKB camp under Matori, who is also the minister of defense, will sooner or later vanish as it enjoys no real support from the party's grassroots, who mainly comprise followers of the country's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama.

Alwi, who also attended the press gathering, said that people could see the fact that the PKB's followers had taken sides with his camp. Matori could only win his claims over the PKB name and logo with a helping hand from a third party, Alwi added.

"Everything is clear for us, we are always ready to face Matori's legal challenge," he said.

Mahfud blamed Matori for foiling the reconcilatory attempts between the warring groups.

"As we see it, Pak Matori doesn't accept our invitation to this congress, which serves as a constitutional forum to resolve the dispute," said Mahfud, who was a minister under Abdurrahman's brief presidency that ended last July.

Mahfud said that the congress had set up a commission to propose the party's resolution against Matori. The commission will also recommend whether the party should change its name and logo.

The congress heard on Friday the general view of 29 participating provincial chapters, all of whom approved the dismissal of Matori from the party.

Most of the chapters also stated their support for Abdurrahman to retain his post as the party's chief patron.

The chapters, however, were split over who becomes chairman. At the end of the session, Alwi and his young contender Syaifulloh Yusuf were the only candidates to have received support from the floor.