Senior NU leader declines PPP post<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A senior leader of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) has
\nturned down an offer by the United Development Party (PPP) to sit
\non its advisory board, saying he'd prefer to remain active in NU
\nand stay put at his pesantren (Moslem boarding school).<\/p>\n
Yusuf Hasyim was nominated into the largely ceremonial board
\nat a PPP congress partly in a bid to appease him after he and
\nother NU politicians lost in their bid to win the chairmanship
\nrace. Had he accepted the post, he would have had to give up his
\ncurrent seat on the NU's policy making board.<\/p>\n
The Antara news agency yesterday reported that Yusuf had
\ndecided to remain active in NU and at the Tebu Ireng pesantren in
\nJombang, East Java, which he leads, rather than making a return
\nto the political scene.<\/p>\n
Yusuf, popularly known as Pak Ud, said he previously made up
\nhis mind at a PPP meeting in October and had communicated his
\ndecision there and then, stressing that it was "the first and
\nlast" time he would attend a PPP meeting.<\/p>\n
The PPP executive board however continued to hope he would
\nchange his mind and has not decided on an alternative figure for
\nthe advisory board.<\/p>\n
Yusuf was an activist at the Moslem-based PPP in the 1970s but
\ndecided to abandon the political arena when NU pulled out of the
\nparty and decided to concentrate on the welfare and education of
\nMoslems in 1984.<\/p>\n
A widely respected figure in NU, he leads the group of NU
\npoliticians who believe the NU should have a greater say in the
\nrunning of the PPP. At the last congress, he led the campaign to
\nunseat the incumbent chairman Ismail Hasan Metareum.<\/p>\n
Advisory bord<\/p>\n
The effort failed and Ismail Hasan, in an attempt to appease
\nPak Ud and other NU politicians, offered him and others seats on
\nthe advisory board.<\/p>\n
Pak Ud said some NU figures are still in the PPP and this he
\nconsiders sufficient. Two other senior NU leaders sitting in the
\nadvisory board are Maemun Zubeir, who chairs the board, and
\nSyansuri Badawi.<\/p>\n
They will represent NU's interest in the PPP, he added.<\/p>\n
Pak Ud made the controversial suggestion in October, after NU
\npoliticians lost the PPP chairmanship race, that the organization
\nshould consider forming its own political party.<\/p>\n
The suggestion however was quickly rejected by other senior NU
\nleaders who said the organization is determined not to be drawn
\nback into the political arena.<\/p>\n
The issue will be discussed again when NU holds its congress
\nin Tasikmalaya, West Java next week. (emb)<\/p>",
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