PKB splinter group elects Choirul Anam as chairman

PKB splinter group elects Choirul Anam as chairman

Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya

Saturday's Bali bombs meant Alwi Shihab's National Awakening
Party (PKB) splinter national congress went on through the night,
with Choirul Anam winning the faction's top executive job.

Following the news of the blasts, Alwi, who is the
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare, requested the
congressional committee speed up the meeting because he and
faction secretary-general Saifullah Yusuf, who is State Minister
for the Development of Disadvantaged Regions, wanted to go to
Bali.

"The President (Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono) did not instruct me
to go to Bali but I'll go since it's related to my job," Alwi
said on Sunday.

The congress at the Sukolilo Haj Dormitory was scheduled to
finish on Sunday night. Instead of adjourning for the evening it
continued until 7:30 a.m. on Sunday, electing Choirul, who won
394 out of 495 votes against Saifullah Yusuf, who was earlier
tipped as the strongest candidate for the post.

Choirul was later congratulated by senior clerics, including
Abdullah Faqih from the Langitan Islamic boarding school in Tuban
and Achmad Mas Subadar from Raoudhlatul Ulum Besuk Islamic
boarding school in Pasuruan.

The splinter grouping of PKB members refuses to recognize the
results of the PKB's National Congress in Semarang in April,
which elected Muhaimin the leader and re-elected Abdurrahman "Gus
Dur" Wahid as the chief patron.

"I won because the clerics want Saifullah to concentrate on
the Ansor Youth Movement as Nahdlatul Ulama's autonomy body,"
said Choirul, who will hold in the post for the 2005-2009 office
term.

Protest marked the congress' opening day on Saturday when
dozens of people who said they were supporters of the official
PKB leader Muhaimin Iskandar came to the venue, threatening to
pull down the party's symbols and banners.

They said the faction was not entitled to display party
symbols because a recent court verdict recognized the faction
under Muhaimin. PKB cofounder and chief patron Gus Dur was
invited to the congress, but did not turn up.

Alwi and Saifullah were dismissed by PKB last year as the
party's chairman and secretary general after they joined Susilo's
Cabinet. The party bans high-ranking party officials from holding
jobs in government because of possible conflicts of interest.

In his speech following his election, Choirul said he would
continue the legal process to solve the internal conflict within
the party. He denied his faction would form a new party after
losing the court battle against Muhaimin.

In the congress, Abdurrahman Chudlori was elected as the
faction's chief patron after gaining 456 out of 492 votes. He
stood against several candidates, including Alwi Shihab and Gus
Dur.