PKB may freeze East Java branch

PKB may freeze East Java branch

SIDOARJO, East Java: The National Awakening Party (PKB) said
on Sunday it would freeze the leadership board of its East Java
branch for defying the party's new central board.

"We will take this move because the current leadership of the
PKB's East Java branch operates on its own," PKB chief patron and
former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid said in Sidoarjo
regency, East Java.

He repeated the PKB's threat to dismiss any party member who
opposed the party's central board, led by House of
Representatives Deputy Speaker Muhaimin Iskandar.

Gus Dur mentioned Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare
Alwi Shihab, State Minister for the Development of Disadvantaged
Regions Saifullah Yusuf, the head of East Java's PKB branch,
Choirul Anam, and the branch's deputy head, Fathorassjid, as
among those members facing dismissal.

Gus Dur said that before making any move, the central board
would issue party members a third warning letter to recognize the
leadership of Muhaimin, who was elected to the PKB's top post
during last month's national congress in Semarang, Central Java.

Muhaimin said these final warning letters would be sent on
Monday following a plenary session of the central board. --Antara