Jakarta – The split in the National Awakening Party (PKB) is now official, with each of the two opposing factions establishing its own central board.
One faction elected House of Representatives deputy speaker Muhaimin Iskandar and little-known cleric Aziz Mansyur as chairman and chief patron, respectively, at a three-day extraordinary meeting that concluded Sunday.
Muhaimin was re-elected PKB chairman for the 2008-2013 term with 375 votes from the 419 party executives in attendance.
At the meeting, which was held in the Mercure Hotel in the Ancol amusement park, North Jakarta, Aziz was elected as chief patron of the party to replace Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, who is feuding with Muhaimin.
Aziz, leader of the Tarbiyatun Nasyi'in Islamic boarding school in Jombang, East Java, secured 353 votes. Gus Dur, who snubbed the meeting, received only 14 votes.
"This is a great responsibility for me, but I must accept it because it is the mandate from the forum," Aziz said.
According to Gus Dur's daughter Zannuba "Yenny" Wahid, Aziz is the former chief patron of East Java's PKB chapter, whose operations were frozen because of alleged money politics in relation to the provincial gubernatorial elections this August.
Aziz then contested a provincial PKB election for local party leaders but lost his bid to recover his position, Yenny said. She said the cleric was a long-time ally of Muhaimin, who is Gus Dur's nephew.
The election of Muhaimin and Aziz further deepens the rift in the PKB, as the opposing camp led by Gus Dur has already held a separate extraordinary meeting to decide the party leaders. At the meeting, held in Parung, Bogor, from March 30 to April 1, members voted to retain Gus Dur as PKB chief patron and senior lawmaker Ali Masykur Musa as chairman.
The two camps now have a tight deadline to resolve their differences and register as a legitimate party to contest the 2009 elections. The General Elections Commission has said all parties with double leadership, including the PKB, must resolve their internal disputes before May 12.
Muhaimin said his faction would continue to try to convince the government his camp's extraordinary meeting was the legitimate one. "Tomorrow (Monday), we will register our party's new central board with the Justice and Human Rights Ministry," he said.
Ali Masykur Musa registered the new central board of his camp with the ministry last Friday.
Muhaimin said his faction would welcome reconciliation with his uncle's camp.
The PKB, the fifth-largest faction in the House, has been embroiled in an escalating conflict since Muhaimin was ousted as party chairman in late March at the behest of Gus Dur.
The PKB secured 52 legislative seats in the 2004 legislative election, with East Java its main stronghold.
Muhaimin said the current dispute would force PKB members to work harder to prevent it from losing votes in the 2009 elections. (alf)