Top NU figures told to resign<\/p>\n
Kurniawan Hari and M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta\/Yogyakarta\/Surabaya<\/p>\n
Calls for the leaders of the nation's largest Muslim organization
\nto resign have intensified following their decision to plunge
\nheadlong into practical politics.<\/p>\n
Critics say Hasyim Muzadi and Solahuddin Wahid of Nahdlatul
\nUlama (NU) have violated the organization's principles by getting
\ninvolved in politics.<\/p>\n
At its 1984 congress in the East Java town of Situbondo, NU
\npledged to quit politics altogether and stick to its social and
\nreligious programs. The pledge is widely referred to as NU's
\nkhittah (principle).<\/p>\n
The call was first made Thursday when NU chairman Hasyim
\nMuzadi announced his agreement to run with incumbent President
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri in the July 5 presidential election. The
\ncall was made by leading Muslim scholars, including Nurcholish
\nMadjid.<\/p>\n
Solahuddin, the deputy chairman of NU, not of the National
\nAwakening Party (PKB) as previously reported in this paper, had
\nmeanwhile been approached by Gen. (ret) Wiranto, the presidential
\naspirant from the Golkar Party.<\/p>\n
The NU's executive board will meet next week to discuss the
\nissue.<\/p>\n
\"We will only ask them to temporarily step aside. If they
\nresign, however, it would be great,\" said the NU's deputy
\nsecretary, Masdar Farid Mas'udi, here on Friday.<\/p>\n
Masdar added that there was no express regulation banning NU
\nleaders from entering politics. But, he said, there was a
\nconsensus among members that NU leaders should not adopt
\npolitical stances.<\/p>\n
The lure to enter politics is nothing new in NU. In the 1999
\nelection, Abdurrahman \"Gus Dur\" Wahid, became the president while
\nstill serving as an NU leader. Ironically, Gus Dur now appears
\nupset by Hasyim's teaming up with Megawati.<\/p>\n
Separately, scholar Muslim Abdurrahman said that Hasyim's
\ndecision to pair up with Megawati would adversely affect the NU
\nas the organization could lose its relevance as a moral force in
\nthe struggle to build democracy and civil society.<\/p>\n
\"It is lamentable that the two largest Muslim organizations,
\nNU and Muhammadiyah, have become mired in the political
\nstruggle,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Muhammadiyah, the country's second largest Muslim
\norganization, is also facing similar problems.<\/p>\n
On Friday, the call for Hasyim and Solahuddin to resign came
\nfrom Muslim clerics in the East Java capital of Surabaya and
\nMuslim students in Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
Ali Maschan Moesa, chairman of the NU's provincial chapter in
\nEast Java, said that one of the clerics who demanded the
\nresignation of both leaders was influential Muslim leader
\nAbdullah Faqih, the leader of the Langitan religious boarding
\nschool in Tuban.<\/p>\n
Ali disclosed that the NU's East Java chapter had consulted
\nwith some influential clerics on the matter. Hasyim would have to
\ntemporarily step aside by no later than the end of this month, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"This is aimed at preventing the NU from getting involved in
\npractical politics. The NU is a mass organization, not a
\npolitical one,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In Yogyakarta, Islamic religious students grouped in the
\nStudent Committee for the Salvation of the Khittah (KSPK) claimed
\nthat Hasyim's willingness to team up with Megawati breached the
\nkhittah.<\/p>\n
KSPK chairman Lutfi Rahman said that as a chairman of NU,
\nHasyim had to adhere to the khittah instead of endorsing
\nnahdliyin (NU members) from becoming involved in practical
\npolitics.<\/p>\n
But Slamet Effendi Yusuf, a former chairman of NU's youth
\ngroup Ansor, said that while as an institution the NU would
\ncontinue to stay away from politics, its members were not
\npersonally bound by this commitment.<\/p>\n
Indra Harsaputra and Slamet Susanto contributed to this
\narticle.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/top-nu-figures-told-to-resign-1447893297",
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