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.