Hasyim, Gus Dur meet to mend strained relationship
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Semarang
Amid reports of a widening internal rift in Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the country's largest Muslim organization, NU leader Hasyim Muzadi held talks on Saturday with his predecessor and the cofounder of the NU-backed National Awakening Party (PKB), Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, in the West Java town of Sukabumi.
The meeting took place on the eve of the PKB congress in Jakarta, where the party is expected to announce its presidential and vice presidential candidates.
NU deputy chairman Ahmad Bagja said that during the meeting at the Al Masturiyah Islamic boarding school, Gus Dur and Hasyim discussed at length current political issues, including coalition offers from other parties for the upcoming presidential election.
"In an amicable manner, both talked about a variety of issues, among others about how to reorganize the PKB," Bagdja told The Jakarta Post.
When asked if the meeting was a gesture of reconciliation between the two prominent leaders -- whose relationship has reportedly become strained recently due to political differences -- Bagja said: "Whatever it was, it will do good for the PKB and the NU."
Bagja also said the two men pledged to improve their communication in the future.
"Gus Dur and Pak Hasyim have indeed rarely encountered each other lately, and after today's meeting they will increase their discussions in Jakarta," he said.
The meeting came one day after the NU central board gave Hasyim its blessings to stand for president or vice president in the July 5 presidential election. Earlier, influential NU clerics, or kyai khos, had reconfirmed their support for Gus Dur's presidential candidacy.
Hasyim has been touted as a potential running mate for President Megawati Soekarnoputri of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and Golkar Party presidential candidate Wiranto, a former Indonesian Military commander.
A source within the NU said that during their meeting, Gus Dur and Hasyim agreed to maintain the unity between the PKB and the NU as the presidential election nears.
With his bid for the presidency at risk because of the possibility that he will be unable to pass the required physical examination, the nearly blind Gus Dur is likely to support a coalition with Golkar for the presidential election, the source said.
Gus Dur met with Wiranto several times even before the retired general won the Golkar candidacy.
Separately, in the Central Java capital of Semarang, PDI-P secretary-general Soetjipto said Megawati did not intend to name Yogyakarta Sultan Hamengkubuwono X as her running mate.
Soetjipto said his party was courting United Development Party (PPP) leaders and NU figures such as Hasyim and Solahuddin Wahid, who is Gus Dur's brother.
Megawati's brother Guruh Soekarnoputra visited the sultan on Friday, a move observers speculated was related to Megawati's search for a running mate.
In Jakarta, Wiranto held talks on Saturday with Reform Star Party (PBR) leader Zainuddin MZ.
Golkar deputy secretary-general Miqdad Husein, however, denied the meeting was an effort on the part of Wiranto to win the Muslim-based party's support for his presidential bid.
The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) began a two-day meeting on Saturday to decide on its presidential candidate.
PKS leader Hidayat Nurwahid said the party had listed 10 possible candidates, including himself, National Mandate Party (PAN) leader Amien Rais, Wiranto, Democratic Party cofounder Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Hasyim, the chairman of the Muslim organization Muhammadiyah, Syafii Maarif, Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid, former president B.J. Habibie and Solahuddin Wahid.