Gus Dur's charisma put to the test again<\/p>\n
Muhammad Nafik and Blontank Poer, The Jakarta Post\/Surakarta<\/p>\n
Former president Abdurrahman \"Gus Dur\" Wahid looks set to retain
\npower as chief patron of the National Awakening Party (PKB) he
\nfounded six years ago after the 1988 downfall of strongman
\nSoeharto.<\/p>\n
Yet, his influence and charisma will be put to the test again
\nduring PKB's three-day congress in Semarang, Central Java, due to
\nstart on Saturday, after he suffered an ignominious defeat in
\nlast December's conference of the 40 million-strong Nahdlatul
\nUlama (NU).<\/p>\n
The prominent moderate leader stumbled in the NU leadership
\nrace when the country's largest Muslim organization he had
\nchaired for 15 years until his accession to the presidency in
\n1999, reelected his bitter opponent Hasyim Muzadi as leader for a
\nsecond five-year term on Dec. 2, last year.<\/p>\n
Hasyim defeated rival candidate Masdar Farid Mas'udi, who Gus
\nDur had backed in the race to head the executive tanfidziyah
\nbody. Hasyim's win followed Gus Dur's defeat at the hands of the
\nlow-profile but charismatic cleric Sahal Mahfudz to head the
\norganization's powerful syuria law-making body.<\/p>\n
Sahal's triumph meant that Gus Dur failed to block the
\nreelection bid of Hasyim who had dared to resist Gus Dur openly
\nby standing as running mate of incumbent Megawati Soekarnoputri
\nin last year's presidential elections.<\/p>\n
Gus Dur's political life has been a career of highs and rocky
\nlows.<\/p>\n
Years ahead of Soeharto's fall, Gus Dur emerged as a key
\nfigure on the country's political stage. Aside from advocating
\nmoderation, religious tolerance and democracy, he was one of a
\nfew leaders brave enough to call for a \"national leadership
\nsuccession\".<\/p>\n
Later after the stumbling Habibie regime crumbled Gus Dur
\nreached his political peak, elected as president in October 1999.<\/p>\n
After an erratic presidency his power base suffered the first
\ncritical blow when the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the
\ncountry's highest legislature then dominated by Megawati's
\nIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Golkar
\nParty, moved to impeach him as president for alleged
\nincompetence.<\/p>\n
The second blow came when the nearly blind figure was barred
\nby the General Elections Commission (KPU) from contesting the
\npresidential race because of his disabilities.<\/p>\n
\"He's finished,\" one cleric once said, commenting after Gus
\nDur lost in the December NU leadership congress in Surakarta,
\nCentral Java. Other delegates to the congress expressed empathy
\nto him. \"What's pity, Gus Dur\", they said.<\/p>\n
The national congress of the NU-based PKB could represent a
\nfurther stumble if Gus Dur fails to ensure his supporters win the
\nrace, and many observers see this congress as a litmus test of
\nhis continuing influence in the party.<\/p>\n
The meeting will also see a showdown between Gus Dur's two
\nrival nephews -- Gus Dur detractor Saifullah Yusuf and his
\nsupporter Muhaimin Iskandar. Other important contenders are
\nformer defense minister Mahfud MD and senior PKB politician Ali
\nMasykur Moesa, both solidly in the Gus Dur camp.<\/p>\n
Both Saifullah and Muhaimin have received support from senior
\nNU ulemas, including those who have backed Gus Dur's failed bid
\nto secure the syuria top post.<\/p>\n
Saifullah was suspended as the PKB secretary-general after
\ndefying Gus Dur by joining the Cabinet of Susilo Bambang
\nYudhoyono, whose presidential bid was not supported by the party.<\/p>\n
Party insiders fear the rivalry between the opposing Saifullah
\nand Muhaimin factions could undermine the integrity of the PKB as
\nGus Dur is determined to stymie Saifullah's leadership
\naspirations.<\/p>\n
Saifullah, the current state minister for the development of
\ndisadvantaged regions and also the chairman of Ansor -- the NU's
\nyouth wing -- has won backing from a group of influential clerics
\nled by Abdullah Faqih from the Langitan Islamic boarding school
\nin Tuban, East Java.<\/p>\n
This significant support, thanks to his intensive lobbying of
\nsenior ulemas, was apparently linked to Saifullah's plan to sue
\nthe PKB central board for suspending him.<\/p>\n
\"The majority of PKB executives at the regency and provincial
\nbranches across Java have vowed support for Saifullah,\" one of
\nhis close friends, Adie Massardi, who resigned on Thursday as a
\nspokesman for Gus Dur, told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Saifullah's influence within the party should not be
\nunderestimated. In an extraordinary PKB congress in January 2002,
\nhe looked certain to win the leadership, with a majority backing
\nfrom regional branches and senior clerics. However, Gus Dur's
\nrisky end-game strategy of threatening to quit if his rebellious
\nnephew was elected paid off, and the meeting chose Gus Dur's
\nclose aide Alwi Shihab, after senior clerics backed down from
\nconfrontation with their chief patron.<\/p>\n
However, friends are not friends forever, and last October,
\nAlwi was suspended from his post after joining Susilo's Cabinet
\nalong with Saifullah.<\/p>\n
During the last five years, Saifullah has courted controversy,
\nestablishing close ties with Megawati Soekarnoputri and her
\nIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).<\/p>\n
Now, the Ansor leader is rumored to have tacit support from
\nVice President Jusuf Kalla to challenge Gus Dur's candidates in
\nthe congress. Saifullah is also accused of attempting to vote buy
\nhis way to the top.<\/p>\n
Observers say any Saifullah win would also represent a
\nconsolidation of power of the Susilo-Kalla government as an
\nimportant political rival -- Gus Dur -- would be reduced in
\nstrength.<\/p>\n
\"Many negative rumors have been aimed at me. But I understand
\n(their motivation) and am already immune to such speculation,\"
\nSaifullah told the Post.<\/p>\n
Muhaimin, a House of Representatives Deputy Speaker, meanwhile
\nhas said that instead of focusing his efforts on lobbying hard to
\nbecome the new PKB chief, he would prefer to sell visible,
\nworkable policies for the party and the nation's future.<\/p>\n
Many PKB leaders were too busy discussing leadership and had
\nneglected the party's mission as a public advocator, Muhaimin
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"The recent fuel price hikes, the welfare of workers and their
\nplight overseas are ignored, although this should be the serious
\nconcern of all party executives.\"<\/p>\n
Two other candidates, Mahfud and Ali Masykur, could emerge as
\ndark horses to defeat both Saifullah and Muhaimin due to their
\nclose ties with Gus Dur.<\/p>\n
Though a relative newcomer within the PKB, like Muhaimin,
\nMahfud is a close confidante of Gus Dur, while Ali Masykur is an
\ninfluential young politician with a bright future.<\/p>\n
Both Mahfud and Ali Masykur are equally popular and acceptable
\namong the PKB grassroot supporters.<\/p>\n
Should the rivalry between Saifullah and Muhaimin get too hot
\nand the former be blocked by the PKB policy banning party
\nexecutives from serving on government posts, either Mahfud or Ali
\nMasykur could win the race due as Saifullah's supporters switch
\ncamps.<\/p>",
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