Rival PKB groups plan separate congresses

Rival PKB groups plan separate congresses

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In a bid to win government support for his National Awakening
Party (PKB), Matori Abdul Djalil has been courting President
Megawati Soekarnoputri.

On Wednesday, Matori, who is also the defense minister,
invited Megawati to open the extraordinary congress of his party
scheduled for Jan. 14 to Jan. 16, 2002.

Meanwhile, his rival camp has planned to hold its congress in
Yogyakarta on Jan. 19, 2002.

Matori claimed that the President agreed to address the
participants of the planned special congress in Jakarta.

"I saw the President as PKB chairman -- the President said
that she could open the congress," he said, expressing pleasure
that the President lent him her support.

PBK, cofounded by former president Abdurrahman Wahid, has been
riddled with internal conflicts since Abdurrahman was toppled
from presidency in July.

Matori had been sympathetic to Megawati, who gave him the
ministerial post in return.

Abdurrahman sacked Matori and appointed Alwi Shihab, his close
confidant and former minister of foreign affairs, as the acting
chairman of the party. Last month, Matori was fired from the
party, but he rejected the dismissal, saying that he is the
legitimate party chairman.

The government had suspended financial aid for PKB until the
infighting is resolved.

Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno, who oversees the aid,
said on Wednesday that the government will not interfere in the
conflicts and urged them to deal with the leadership issue.

"We do not take side and we will not interfere; for the
government it is more important for them to end the conflict," he
said after meeting the President.

Matori said the agenda of the special congress is his
accountability speech and leadership issues.