R

econciliation efforts carried out by the two opposing camps in the United Development Party (PPP) have ended in another deadlock after the faction supporting the ruling Great Indonesia Coalition rejected the rival camp'€™s proposal to involve a third party as conflict mediator.

Although he appreciated a recent offer from Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) chairman Din Syamsuddin to arbitrate the party'€™s prolonged leadership dispute, PPP senior politician Emron Pangkapi said the conflict within the country'€™s oldest Islamic-based party must be settled by those who '€œwere familiar with the root of problem'€.

'€œWe welcome any support from Muslim leaders, like Pak Din, [Nahdlatul Ulama] chairman Said Aqil Siradj and [former NU chairman] Hasyim Muzadi, who consider the PPP as an influential political vehicle for Indonesian Muslims. However, the PPP is more than able to handle its internal problems,'€ Emron, a PPP deputy chairman under the leadership of lawmaker Muhammad '€œRomy'€ Romahurmuziy, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Emron also said that negotiations between his camp and the other faction led by former public housing minister Djan Faridz were still ongoing.

'€œThe PPP executive board under Romy'€™s leadership currently has more than 30 vacant positions, including two deputy chair and several deputy secretary-general positions. If those in the other camp really want to reconcile, we are ready to offer these positions to them,'€ he said.

Djan, a businessman-turned-politician, was elected PPP chairman during the party'€™s national congress held in early November as a challenge to another congress organized earlier in Surabaya, which declared Romy as the party'€™s new leader.

Established in 1973 following the merger of four Islamic-based political parties '€” Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the Indonesian Muslim Party (Parmusi), the Indonesian Islamic Union Party (PSII) and the Islamic Education Union (Perti) '€” the PPP was the only Islamic-based party in the country until 1998.

With 39 legislators, the PPP is currently the eighth-biggest faction in the House of Representatives in front of the NasDem Party and the Hanura Party.

The internal rift within the PPP began after Romy and many PPP executives openly challenged Suryadharma'€™s decision to seal the PPP into a permanent alliance with the opposition Red-and-White Coalition, whose members are political parties that supported the unsuccessful presidential bid of Gerindra Party chief patron Prabowo Subianto.

In response to the lawsuit filed by Djan'€™s camp, the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN) has suspended a ministerial decree issued by Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonnna Laoly that had recognized Romy as party chairman, ordering the ministry to obey the court order and not issue any other decrees related to the PPP before the court delivers its verdict.

Semarang-based Wahid Hasyim University'€™s Islamic politics observer, Agus Riyanto, however, said that the involvement of outsiders in settling the PPP dispute would bring no significant impact.

'€œThe PPP dispute is rooted in the battle of political [interests], not ideology. So, reconciliation can only be sealed if both parties agree to make certain political commitments,'€ he said.