Jakarta – The country's largest Muslim organisation, which founded the Nation Awakening Party (PKB), is giving up on attempts to reconcile two rival factions within the party.

Citing irreconcilable differences between the two groups, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Central Executive Board chairman Hasyim Muzad said on Thursday: "We have worked hard to reconcile the two groups but failed because each faction has insisted on its own stance. We will simply wait and see what happens next."

Set up in 1999 with the majority support of NU's 45 million members, PKB split into two groups in July last year after a small faction led by party chairman Matori Abdul Djalil attended the Special Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

The session ousted then President Abdurrahman Wahid, PKB's founder, and installed then Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri as his successor.

Despite heavy pressure from PKB leaders and legislators, Mr Matori refused to resign from the party. PKB leaders subsequently fired him and gave the chairmanship to then Foreign Affairs Minister Alwi Shihab.