Minister stays in Cabinet despite PKB internal rift

Desy Nurhayati ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 04/23/2008 1:08 AM  |  National

Manpower and Transmigration Minister Erman Suparno said he will hold on to his post until his tenure ends next year despite the heated internal conflict within his National Awakening Party (PKB).

"I will consistently carry out my state duties in the Cabinet until the end of my term," Erman, a former PKB treasurer, told reporters at the Presidential Palace.

He was commenting on the statement by PKB secretary general Zannuba Arifah Chafsoh, or Yenny Wahid, that the party no longer had representatives in the Cabinet.

Erman said he was concerned with the party's prolonged internal rift, given the general election is due in one year and conflicting parties have to solve this dispute before May 12 2008 -- the due date of party registration.

He said he had contributed to possible settlement of the conflict by talking to each camp.

"I hope the party's leaders will find the most suitable solution immediately," he said.

The PKB, the fifth-largest faction at the House of Representatives, has been facing its toughest test of unity since the party's executive board formally dismissed party leader Muhaimin Iskandar earlier this month at the request of PKB chief patron Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, former president and Muhaimin's uncle.

The conflict has split the party into two: Gus Dur and daughter Yenny on one side and Muhaimin on the other. The dispute intensified when both camps took registration forms at the General Elections Commission (KPU). They both plan to hold separate extraordinary meetings in early May.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is slated to open the extraordinary congress organized by Muhaimin's camp, which may signal the government's support for a Muhaimin-led PKB.

Erman said that since the statement was Yenny's personal opinion, it would not affect PKB's support for the government.

Besides Erman, the party's presence in the Cabinet is represented by Lukman Edy as state minister for development of disadvantaged regions. Muhaimin has named Lukman the party's secretary general, replacing Yenny.

State Secretary Hatta Radjasa insisted the government would not be affected by the party's internal rift.

"The President has the authority to follow up this matter because it is related to both ministers in the Cabinet," Hatta said.

He said his office has yet to receive the letter on the statement that Yenny said would be sent to the President.

Separately, the PKB headquarters in Kalibata, South Jakarta, was flooded with civil guards securing the area after Yenny announced late Monday that the office must be cleared from Muhaimin and his supporters.

After the launch of the Women's Movement of National Awakening (PPKB) website on Tuesday, Ali Masykur Musa, acting leader of PKB who has sided with Yenny, said Muhaimin's dismissal would be discussed in the extraordinary meeting to be held on May 1.

"We will also discuss the new organizational structure," he said.

Ali added that Muhaimin would be invited to this meeting.

"We will invite him properly. He may give an explanation or defend himself during the meeting," he said.

Muhaimin, however, said he would refuse to attend the meeting. He will chair his camp's extraordinary meeting to be held from May 2 to May 4 at the Azziyadah pesantren (Islamic boarding school) in East Jakarta.

However, the pesantren leader Siti Hasanah said she would not allow Muhaimin to hold an extraordinary meeting at her school.

"The Azziyadah pesantren is not a place for politics. It is for education," she said during the PPKB website launching. (alf)

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