Hasyim challenges move to unseat him from post<\/p>\n
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) chairman Hasyim Muzadi played down on
\nWednesday a move to unseat him from the top post in the country's
\nlargest Muslim organization through an extraordinary congress.<\/p>\n
Hasyim said that any such a plan would need to be based on
\nstrong reasons, including a demand from the majority of
\ninfluential Muslim clerics, or kyais, who elected him during the
\n1999 congress.<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters at his office on Jl. Kramat Raya,
\nCentral Jakarta, Hasyim said he did not know why several kyais,
\nincluding former president Abdurrahman \"Gus Dur\" Wahid, were
\ninsisting on replacing him.<\/p>\n
\"I will just leave the matter to my voters, if they no longer
\nwant me to lead NU. But as far as I know, they (the kyais) have
\nnot yet officially told me of any mistakes which I may have
\ncommitted,\" Hasyim said.<\/p>\n
Gus Dur revealed that three kyais who are believed to play
\nprominent roles in the NU were demanding a snap congress that
\ncould show Hasyim the door.<\/p>\n
The three clerics were Ahmad Subadar of Pasuruan, East Java,
\nKyai Abdurrahman Chudori of Tegalrejo, Yogyakarta, and Kyai
\nMuhaiminan of Tarakan, North Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
Gus Dur has also reportedly asked for the replacement of his
\nuncle Sahal Mahfudh (not Mahfudz as earlier reported) as chairman
\nof the NU's board of patrons.<\/p>\n
Hasyim admitted that there had been an undeclared war between
\nhim and Gus Dur as the former president blamed the NU for its
\nfailure to stop the People Consultative Assembly from holding a
\nspecial session that eventually brought him down last year.<\/p>\n
The special session also split Gus Dur's National Awakening
\nParty (PKB) into one faction led by his confidant Alwi Shihab and
\nanother under Matori Abdul Djalil, who Gus Dur fired for taking
\npart in the special session.<\/p>\n
\"I won't deny that Gus Dur was disappointed after I refused to
\nsupport either Alwi's PKB or Matori's. But I guess he (Gus Dur)
\nwill understand that I did it to preserve the NU's impartiality,\"
\nHasyim said.<\/p>\n
\"We will apply the same stance to other parties affiliated to
\nthe NU, such as the Muslim Community Awakening Party (PKU), or
\nNahdlatul Ummat Party (PNU), or the Suny Party,\" Hasyim said,
\nadding that the same policy had been adhered to by Gus Dur, who
\nas NU chairman separated the NU as a mass organization from the
\nUnited Development Party (PPP) in 1986.<\/p>\n
\"Gus Dur still hopes to run for the presidency in the 2004
\ngeneral election. Should he fail to drag the NU into politics, he
\nmight lose in the election, as his PKB is currently too fragile
\nto compete with the other parties,\" Hasyim said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/hasyim-challenges-move-to-unseat-him-from-post-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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