COURT RULES AGAINST GUS DUR IN PARTY DISPUTE

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 001165 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS NSC FOR EPHU E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/13/2018 TAGS: PGOV KDEM KISL ID SUBJECT: COURT RULES AGAINST GUS DUR IN PARTY DISPUTE REF: JAKARTA 728 Classified By: DepPol/C Stanley Harsha, reasons 1.4 (b+d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: A Jakarta District Court ruled against former President Abdurrahman Wahid (alias Gus Dur) on June 12, reinstating his cousin as the party chair of Gus Dur's Islamic-oriented National Awakening Party (PKB). However, the decision did nothing to settle the internal dispute between Gus Dur and his cousin for control of the party. Gus Dur is appealing the decision to the Supreme Court and unless the legal dispute is settled quickly, the General Election Commission (KPU) might disqualify PKB for the 2009 legislative elections. In that eventuality, Indonesia's only truly moderate Muslim party could be out of the picture for next year's key national elections. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) South Jakarta District Court judges ruled on June 12 that Gus Dur's March 26 ouster of Chief Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Muhaimin Iskandar as party chair was invalid. Judges stated that the move was illegal because Iskandar had not violated any party by-laws. ¶3. (SBU) Gus Dur immediately announced he is appealing to the Supreme Court, a process which could take months. The KPU cannot verify PKB's list of party candidates while the chairmanship is in legal limbo. The KPU deadline is expected to fall within the next couple of months. If the Supreme Court has not ruled by then, KPU could disqualify PKB for the April 2009 national legislative elections. ¶4. (C) This is the third time that party patron Gus Dur has kicked out a party chairman. The first chairman Matori Abdul Djalil was fired by the party central board in 2001 for supporting a move to impeach then President Wahid. In 2004, former foreign minister Alwi Shihab was suspended as party chairman after he accepted a ministerial post in the President Yudhoyono cabinet. A district court ruled in Gus Dur's favor and Shihab formed a rival party, Nadhatul Ulama Awakening Party (PKNU),which split off a small percentage of PKB support. YENNY WAHID FUTURE LEADER ¶5. (C) NU insiders told DepPol/C on June 12 that Gus Dur's current motive is to install his highly competent and bright daughter Yenny Wahid, age 33, as party chair to carry on his legacy. Muhaimin's supporters conceded to us that she will be the future leader but say she is not yet experienced enough to lead. However, objective outside observers who know Yenny well told us that she is more than politically ready to captain the party and that her prospects as a rising national leader are very bright. ¶6. (C) Muhaimin does not have nearly the following that the patriarch Gus Dur enjoys but unlike earlier rivals, he has a grassroots following, particularly among younger PKB members. This split would more severely damage the party than earlier ones. ¶7. (C) Still, contacts agree that PKB would not be much without Gus Dur, even if his health and ability to think rationally are declining. Although the party has been waning, with its strong base of support within Indonesia's largest Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU),PKB still figures to remain a major political player. More importantly, as an NU leader and senior official in the Ministry of Religion told DepPol/C, PKB is the only truly moderate Islamic party and plays a very important role if only for that reason. HUME