PKB prepares disciplinary moves against rivals

Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After winning recognition from the government, the National Awakening Party (PKB) under Muhaimin Iskandar is mulling action against members of a rival camp.

PKB deputy secretary-general Zannuba Arifah Chafsoh, better known as Yenni Wahid, said on Saturday, however, that doors would stay open for the party's splinter group to rejoin.

"We maintain the spirit of brotherhood. Unless they (splinter group) take actions outside the law, a recall is too dramatic. We're taking things easy," said Yenni, the daughter of former president and PKB chief patron Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid.

PKB gave eight defying members and House of Representatives members three days on Thursday to declare their allegiance to the party, after the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights officially recognized its new central board lineup as a result of a national congress in Semarang last April.

The government's acceptance followed a Supreme Court edict saying that a new party leadership should be registered despite an ongoing conflict.

The ministry, however, said the registration was subject to review and changes should a court verdict not rule in the new leadership's favor.

Yenni said the new PKB leadership had never considered such a government recognition important since a party's establishment was determined by its own internal mechanism.

A party source, however, said some PKB legislators had to pay a visit to justice minister Hamid Awaluddin's house on Monday to make him acknowledge the party's new central board of executives. They met and talked to Hamid, after the latter was unable to avoid them.

The party executives had feared that both Hamid and his office would fool around with the PKB and the Supreme Court's edict, the source told The Jakarta Post.

"It was ridiculous. A copy of the edict was sent to them and later returned to the post office simply because we addressed it to the wrong bureau inside the same building," said the source.

The party split after the national congress in April elected a new leadership.

Alwi Shihab, the chief minister for public welfare, said the congress was legally flawed because it did not involve him as the party's chief executive and secretary-general Saifullah Yusuf, now the state minister for disadvantaged regions.

The two were suspended last year after joining the Cabinet of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

They organized a national meeting of politicians and clerics last month in Surabaya, which resulted in a declaration that rejected the legitimacy of the Semarang congress and the leadership of Muhaimin.

They are also suing the party over their suspension and have vowed to hold a rival congress if they win the civil suit.

Playing down the threats of recall, legislator Muhammad A.S. Hikam, who supports Alwi's camp, said the Muhaimin's side was too euphoric about the ministry's registration and stressed that the civil suit was still in progress.

"I don't even think about it. They shouldn't issue threats like that," he said.

However, Hikam said he personally would bow to any verdict and abide by any decisions issued by the party central board if his camp lost the suit.

"I wouldn't set up a new party if we lost because that wouldn't be a good lesson for democracy. But that's hypothetical, let things just flow," he asserted.