Gus Dur still very much in charge of NU<\/p>\n
KUDUS, Central Java (JP): Abdurrahman Wahid was still very
\nmuch in charge of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) when he led a massive
\nceremony on Tuesday night to mark the Moslem organization's 71st
\nanniversary.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman, more affectionately known by his supporters as
\nGus Dur, arrived at the Kudus Sports Hall to a long, standing
\novation from approximately 20,000 people. Then there were the
\ncheers, "Long Live Gus Dur", to affirm his place as chairman of
\nthe NU Executive Board.<\/p>\n
Gus Dur's leadership has been challenged from within since his
\nreelection at the NU congress in Cipasung, West Java, last
\nDecember. His main opponent in the election, Abu Hasan, has
\nunsuccessfully tried to undermine Gus Dur.<\/p>\n
But there was no enmity against Abu Hasan in Gus Dur's address
\nat the anniversary ceremony. The tone was one of reconciliation.<\/p>\n
Gus Dur appealed to all NU members not to overplay the
\ndifferences between their leaders. "This is normal in any big
\norganization," he said. "In any family, there's bound to be
\narguments between the husband and wife. It's normal and they can
\nresolve their differences. It's the same with NU."<\/p>\n
At 71, NU is old and wise enough to resolve its own problems,
\nhe added.<\/p>\n
Gus Dur did acknowledge that this problem might take time to
\nresolve.<\/p>\n
In his speech, the incumbent chairman also dismissed
\nspeculations that he was steering NU towards the Indonesian
\nDemocratic Party (PDI), the smallest yet most vocal of the three
\npolitical parties in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
He said the press has blown out of proportion his relations
\nwith PDI's chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri, giving the
\nimpression that he was veering towards the party.<\/p>\n
He said the few times that he met with Megawati, the press was
\nquick to report it and ran the picture of the two together. But,
\nhe said, he also frequently met with Ismail Hasan Metareum of the
\nUnited Development Party as well as Harmoko of the ruling Golkar,
\nbut these never get reported on in the press.<\/p>\n
He described Harmoko as an old friend. "Because he is an old
\nfriend, the press didn't bother to run a picture when I met with
\nHarmoko," he said.<\/p>\n
Gus Dur emphasized that NU will never forge formal ties with
\nany of the political organizations. "NU is an organization run
\nalong religious lines, while the parties are organizations run
\nalong political lines." (har\/emb)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/gus-dur-still-very-much-in-charge-of-nu-1447893297",
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