Gus Dur supporters plan to elect new PKB leaders

Jakarta, NU Online
Internal rifts in the National Awakening Party (PKB) emerged again as supporters of the former leader of the party, the late Abdurahman “Gus Dur” Wahid, said they planned to hold a national congress in April.

Spokesman for the PKB’s “Gus Dur” faction, Imron Rosyadi Hamid also denied claims that former president Gus Dur had asked his supporters to unite with the PKB faction led by Manpower and Transmigration Minister Muhaimin Iskandar before he passed away on Wednesday.<>

“The plan for the congress was made by Gus Dur during a meeting at the PKB office in Kalibata Jakarta in November 2009,” he said.

“Gus Dur himself asked that the party’s congress be held in February.”

Gus Dur, who founded the PKB in 1999, passed away at Cipto Mangunkusumo hospital on Wednesday.

Imron claimed he had the minutes of meeting that was also attended by a number of the party’s chief patrons, clerics and former legislators, including Saidah Sakwan, when Gus Dur made the statement about the PKB national congress.

“There was no last message from Gus Dur to Muhaimin,” he said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com on Sunday.

He said that earlier Gus Dur had proposed that his nephew Muhaimin end the internal conflict before last year’s presidential election.

“But Muhaimin never accepted Gus Dur’s invitation to make peace before the presidential election in 2009,” he said.

He said the upcoming congress would discuss among others, new names for the party including, the PKB Gus Dur, the PKB reformasi (reform) or the PKB Perjuangan (struggle).

“There is a proposal to be called PKB Perjuangan, which represents Gus Dur’s visions,” he said.

Muhaimin was among the ministers who attended Gus Dur’s funeral in Jombang, East Java, believed to be the stronghold of the PKB under Gus Dur.

The Islamic-based PKB has been plagued with infighting since Gus Dur, then the party’s chief patron, sought the dismissal of Muhaimin as the party chairman just months before the legislative elections in 2004.

Muhaimin refused to accept his dismissal, claiming to be the rightful chief of party, while the Gus Dur camp elected Ali Masykur Musa to replace him.

Muhaimin, who was deputy speaker at the House of Representative at the time, took the case to the court and won.

Gus Dur and Muhaimin then created two different factions within the party, of which Muhaimin was recognized by the General Elections Commission (KPU) as a participant in the April 9 legislative elections.

Muhaimin’s PKB garnered less than 5 percent of the total votes in the election, which observers said declined due to internal conflict.

In 2004 election, the party garnered around 10 percent of national votes.

Muhaimin brought the party to coalesce with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party. Yudhoyono then gave two ministerial seats to the PKB, including one to Muhaimin. (jp/dar)