Ismail plays down threat from ulemas<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The chairman of the United Development Party
\n(PPP) is playing down a threat by ulemas to remove their support
\nfrom his political organization in rejection of his re-election.<\/p>\n
Appearing calm as usual, Ismail Hasan said yesterday that he
\ndid not see the opposition by some ulemas to his leadership as a
\nserious threat to PPP's performance in the 1997 general election.<\/p>\n
Numerous ulemas in Central and West Java have openly expressed
\ntheir dismay with the new PPP leadership after failing to wrest
\naway the party's chairmanship at a congress this month.<\/p>\n
The incumbent chairman said he was optimistic that PPP's
\nbitter 1987 experience of losing 34 seats in the House of
\nRepresentatives (DPR) would not recur despite the widespread
\nopposition to his leadership among ulemas from the Nahdlatul
\nUlama (NU), the largest faction in the party.<\/p>\n
Ismail argued that the sharp drop in the party's 1987 vote
\ntally resulted from the maneuver of the then party chairman H.J.
\nNaro to "clean up" PPP from NU leaders, a move which he is not
\neven considering. "Naro made the biggest blunder," he said of the
\nparty boss he ousted in 1989.<\/p>\n
Naro, who now chairs the Muslimin Indonesia faction, was
\nopposed to Ismail Hasan's re-election.<\/p>\n
While acknowledging their great influence in the Moslem
\ncommunity, Ismail Hasan said he did not believe all the scholars
\nunder Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia's largest Moslem
\norganization, would go so far as to lead a boycott of the PPP in
\nthe poll.<\/p>\n
Ismail, who is affiliated with Muslimin Indonesia, said he was
\nstill trying to approach disgruntled ulemas like Alawy Muhammad
\nto get them to reconsider their plan to quit the Moslem-oriented
\nPPP simply because they did not like him. "The ulemas are
\nimportant vote getters in the elections," he said.<\/p>\n
Ismail Hasan defended his appointment of Anwar Nurris as one
\nof the secretary general's deputies even though Anwar was one of
\nthe party rebels who campaigned for boycotting the PPP prior to
\nthe 1987 election. "He has repented and he is welcome back into
\nthe fold," he said.<\/p>\n
Sooth<\/p>\n
In the meantime, Ismail Hasan's attempt to sooth the ulemas'
\nhard feelings has not yet brought about concrete results.<\/p>\n
Alawy, an influential ulema from Madura who has threatened to
\nquit PPP and join the minority Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI),
\nreportedly refused to meet with Ismail Hasan's messengers --
\nsecretary general Tosari Widjaya and deputy chief Zarkasih Noer
\n-- because he was "busy" yesterday.<\/p>\n
Ulema Yusuf Hasyim, who heads NU's lawmaking body, remained
\ncynical about his appointment as a member of the new PPP advisory
\nboard.<\/p>\n
"I haven't recovered from the political shock I got from being
\nnamed a board member without being consulted beforehand," he told
\nthe Antara news agency.<\/p>\n
He said he would need "probably a week, a month or even a
\nyear" before he could decide whether to accept the post.<\/p>\n
Ismail Hasan yesterday also launched a scathing attack on
\noutspoken legislator Sri Bintang Pamungkas, his ardent critic and
\ncompetitor in the recent party chairmanship race.<\/p>\n
He singled out Bintang as a "self-righteous person who
\ncriticized people like he does not understand oriental customs."<\/p>\n
"He sounds as if the party is nothing without him around," he
\nsaid. "He is too much."<\/p>\n
Bintang, a new breed of PPP activist who often embarrassed the
\nparty's leadership with his criticism of the government, had
\naggressively campaigned to topple Ismail Hasan.<\/p>\n
Bintang has warned time and again that PPP might shrink into
\nthe smallest of the three political organizations because Ismail
\nHasan has failed to develop the party's potential.(pan)<\/p>",
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