NU ends alliance with PKB<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Surakarta<\/p>\n
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) has enacted several important policies
\nincluding revoking its order to back the National Awakening Party
\n(PKB) it founded after the downfall of president Soeharto in
\n1998.<\/p>\n
All 40 million members of the nation's largest Muslim
\norganization are now free to support any political party in next
\nelections according to their own wishes.<\/p>\n
The decision was made at the NU's five-day national congress
\nin Surakarta, Central Java, which ended on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The previous congress held in 1999 in Kediri, East Java,
\nrecommended that the nation's largest Muslim organization vote
\nfor the PKB in the general elections.<\/p>\n
With NU support, the PKB was ranked the third largest party in
\nterm of votes in the 1999 elections after the Indonesian
\nDemocratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Golkar Party. But in
\nterm of seats in the House of Representatives, the PKB came
\nfourth after the United Development Party (PPP).<\/p>\n
Ahead of the 2004 elections to elect legislative members,
\nresistance mounted inside the NU to maintain its backing for the
\nPKB after the party's chief patron Abdurrahman Wahid picked
\nseveral non-NU figures, like Alwi Shihab and Mahfud MD, to take
\ncontrol of the organization.<\/p>\n
Many senior NU leaders, including newly-reelected NU chairman
\nHasyim Muzadi, were reportedly dissatisfied over this issue.<\/p>\n
Through the Surakarta congress, the NU also reaffirmed its
\nstance of rejecting all forms of Islamic extremism and
\nfundamentalism in support of the global war on terror.<\/p>\n
However, it opposed religious liberalism, which younger NU
\nscholars are promoting to fight extremism and radicalism in the
\ninterpretation of Islamic teachings.<\/p>\n
The anti-liberalism policy came amid strong protests by a
\nnumber of senior ulama against the existence of the Liberal Islam
\nNetwork (JIL) led by a young NU scholar, Ulil Abshar Abdalla.<\/p>\n
When seeking re-election for a second five-year term, Hasyim
\nsaid that NU did not recognize religious liberalism or extremism.<\/p>\n
\"NU stands between extremism and liberalism, and embraces
\npluralism and moderation,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Mun'im DZ, who chaired the NU's sub-commission on politics,
\nsaid on Friday that his organization will continue its religious
\ntraditions in developing Islam through \"deep and comprehensive
\nunderstanding\".<\/p>\n
\"NU does not recognize formalistic interpretations of Islamic
\nteachings, which are expressed in tensions that could lead to
\nviolence,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Mun'im said religious expressions in the form of violence were
\nagainst the principles of peace (Islam).<\/p>\n
Solahuddin Wahid, a former deputy NU leader who chaired the
\ncommission on tausiyah (recommendations), said the congress also
\nreaffirmed its nationhood commitment based on the state ideology
\nof Pancasila.<\/p>\n
\"The economic crisis and an excessive reform spirit have
\nresulted in the loss of national integrity with the emergence of
\nfederalist and separatist movements, which threaten the country's
\nunity,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Efforts to strengthen the commitment to nationhood, Solahuddin
\nadded, cannot be made with force and violence, but through new
\ncultural strategies.<\/p>\n
The NU urged the government to reject all forms of economic
\nimperialism and liberalism.<\/p>\n
Solahuddin said the NU saw that the current global campaign
\nfor free trade was actually part of a new economic imperialism.<\/p>\n
\"Globalization has been used to overpower other countries
\nbecause it always creates new dependencies of the weak on the
\nstrong,\" he added.<\/p>\n
The congress also recommended that the NU central board set up
\na television station to educate the nation on moral values.<\/p>\n
The recommendation came following the popularity of certain
\nnational TV programs in the world's largest Muslim country, which
\nNU leaders said went against religious teachings and traditions.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/nu-ends-alliance-with-pkb-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}