Support grows for Matori's PKB chief bid

JAKARTA (JP): Support is growing for incumbent National Awakening Party (PKB) chairman Matori Abdul Djalil to retain his post.

The party's Jakarta chapter was the latest to nominate Matori, who is also the deputy speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), for a new five-year term in the top job, citing his competence in living up to the party's ideal of becoming an open political organization.

"Pak Matori is the only person capable of leading the PKB in its aspirations to become an open party as Gus Dur had expected," the chapter's secretary Isa Muchsin said on the sidelines of a seminar held by the party at the Kartika Chandra Hotel in South Jakarta.

Isa said all PKB branches in Jakarta unanimously voted for Matori's candidacy during the chapter's recent executive meeting. The meeting also saw the nomination of Gus Dur, as the PKB's co- founder President Abdurrahman Wahid is widely known, as the chief of the party's law making body.

The PKB is commonly associated with the country's largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama, which Abdurrahman led for 15 years before his election as President last October. The party finished fourth in last year's general election with 12 percent of the vote behind the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, the Golkar Party and the United Development Party.

Matori is expected to face a tough challenge from foreign minister Alwi Shihab in the election of a PKB chief for the 2000- 2005 term, which will be held during a congress in Surabaya between July 23 and July 27.

Other supporters for Matori's bid include branches in West Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, all of the Sumatra provinces, West Java and Central Java, according to Isa.

He denied reports that East Java had unanimously rejected Matori's nomination and opted for Alwi's instead.

"Muslim clerics in East Java, one of them being Kyai Amanullah, have given their blessings for Matori's reelection," Isa said.

Chief of the PKB's East Java chapter, Choirul Anam, claimed recently that the party's branches in the province would fight for Alwi due to his knowledge of Islam and his intellectual capability.

"As a modern intellectual and an expert on Islam, Alwi will provide the party with a new atmosphere," Anam said.

He added that East Java would look for an alternative if Abdurrahman refused to let go of Alwi as his aide, but the substitute would definitely not be Matori.

Anam attributed East Java's opposition to Matori's reelection bid to his failure to secure the set target of 24 percent of the vote in last year's general election.

Matori is also seen as an undisciplined leader and inelegant in his presentation of the party's views, according to Anam.

"He's almost never called for an executive meeting to respond to current issues. He is also prone to taking matters into his own hands without prior consultation with other members of the central executive board," Anam said.

But leading PKB executive Muhaimin Iskandar predicted Matori's win in the upcoming election, thanks to his leadership skills.

"So far the party remains solid under his leadership. There has been no conflicts within the party," said Muhaimin, who is also the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives.

"If some weaknesses were found during his tenure, it was just a matter of time. The party was born just ahead of the general election and the General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly."

Muhaimin said he believed that if Matori served a full five- year term, the party would emerge as a big player.

Matori was cautious on Thursday in responding to the growing support for his nomination. "There will be no rivalry during the congress. We've just returned from a big war and everybody is fighting selfishness now," he said philosophically. (10)