PKB divided over candidate choice
PKB divided over candidate choice
M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta
After sparking an internal rift in the country's largest Muslim
organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) over the vice presidential
candidacy of its leader Hasyim Muzadi, cofounder of the National
Awakening Party (PKB) Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid made a
statement on Thursday that could incite a squabble within the
party he helped create.
In a press conference organized after talks with members of
the Election Supervisory Committee (Panwaslu), Gus Dur lambasted
PKB leader Alwi Shihab for saying the party would support the
pairing of Wiranto and Solahuddin Wahid of the Golkar Party in
the July 5 polls.
"If Pak Alwi says PKB will support Wiranto it is up to him, it
is his business," the cleric said.
He said that giving his blessing to Solahuddin to run as
Wiranto's running mate did not mean that he altogether supported
the pair.
Gus Dur -- accompanied by his lawyers, Alwi and PKB central
board member Mahfud MD -- met with Panwaslu to lodge a complaint
over the General Elections Commission's (KPU) ruling on
compulsory health examinations for presidential and vice
presidential candidates.
Gus Dur also said that he was ready to leave the PKB and found
a new political party should the majority of PKB members disobey
his orders.
"I am ready to set up my own political party, its name would
be the free democratic party," he said.
After registering his presidential bid with the KPU on
Tuesday, Gus Dur said he would quit political life should the
commission disqualify him for poor health. "I have been involved
in politics for more than 30 years," he said.
Alwi said, on that occasion, that if the KPU disqualified Gus
Dur, the PKB would throw its weight behind the Wiranto-Solahuddin
pairing.
In the meeting with Panwaslu, Gus Dur boasted that millions of
his supporters would choose abstention, if the commission
declared him unfit for the election.
In late April, Gus Dur incited an internal split in the NU
after he refused to support Hasyim as the running mate of
President Megawati Soekarnoputri of the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
Earlier, the NU had decided in a plenary session attended by
influential members of its syuriah (law-making bodies) and
tanfidziah (executive board) to let Hasyim enter the presidential
race.
Saying that most NU clerics had given him their blessing, Gus
Dur decided to join the presidential race.
The visually impaired former president was impeached by the
People's Representatives Assembly (MPR) in 2001 for incompetence
and erratic behavior.