Abdurrahman Wahid denies campaigning for Golkar

Abdurrahman Wahid denies campaigning for Golkar

JAKARTA (JP): Controversial Moslem leader Abdurrahman Wahid
has denied helping President Soeharto's daughter Siti Hardiyanti
Rukmana campaign for Golkar.

Gus Dur, as the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) chairman is better known,
and Hardiyanti attended mass prayers with 35,000 NU members in
the East Java town of Madiun Saturday.

Gus Dur has repeatedly called Hardiyanti, Golkar deputy
chairwoman, Indonesia's "future figure".

He said the informal gathering, the third in less than two
weeks in NU strongholds in East and Central Java, was a
religious, not a political, event.

Nahdlatul Ulama, which claims to have 30 million members, has
formally shunned politics but has given its members the freedom
to affiliate with any political organization.

Gus Dur's appearance with Hardiyanti at informal NU gatherings
has sparked controversy, even among the organization's members.
His critics say that he has unduly brought NU to the political
stage.

NU members in Madura and Yogyakarta have boycotted the
gatherings they describe as "full of political overtones" that
benefit Golkar in next month's election.

Meanwhile, Hardiyanti said she would be glad to help NU
members if they need help. She hoped NU Moslems would help her
when she needs it.

"We will meet again in another gathering like this in the
future. This sort of gathering will occur not only now but also
in the future as long as Indonesia still exists," she said.

According to Hardiyanti, President Soeharto is aware that NU
is a huge organization that supports the government and works to
maintain stability.

"NU is democratic. Look NU gives its members the freedom to
vote for any contestant in the upcoming election," she said.

Riots

Gus Dur reiterated that NU was still committed to its 1984
pledge to quit politics and stick to its original mission to
promote education.

"This gathering aims at introducing Tutut (as Hardiyanti is
better known) to NU members," Gus Dur said as quoted by Antara.

Present at the mass gathering at the Madiun town square were
Army Chief Gen. Hartono, Minister of Cooperative Subiyakto
Tjakrawerdaya, East Java military chief Maj. Gen. Imam Utomo and
provincial police chief Maj. Gen. Sumarsono.

Gus Dur plans to hold gatherings in six other East Java towns.

Government officials, Gus dur said, need to know the actual
condition of NU.

"NU is solid now and has good relations with other
organizations," said Gus Dur, grandson of Hasyim Asy'ari, the
1926 founder of NU.

He acknowledged that some NU members were involved in recent
mob violence in Situbondo, Tasikmalaya, Pekalongan, Temanggung,
Wonosobo and Surabaya but in an individual capacity.

"NU refuses violence as a way to solve any problem," he said.

Violence in Situbondo, Surabaya and Tasikmalaya last year was
religiously-motivated with Christian property being the main
target. Riots in Pekalongan, Temanggung and Wonosobo were sparked
by rivalry between supporters of Golkar and the Moslem-oriented
United Development Party (PPP).

Gus Dur said the series of unrest could have been engineered
by a third party to tarnish NU. The majority of NU members are
peaceful people and shun violence and brutality, he added.

He said that the small number of NU members who resorted to
violence were those who had the wrong interpretation about the
concept of al jihad, or holy war in the Islamic teaching.

The government has set a good example for the correct
implementation of al jihad, such as setting up the National
Logistics Agency to combat poverty and building modest public
housing for the needy, he said.

"There is a requirement to be fulfilled to start jihad and
that is if we are attacked. In recent cases, peace has abounded
and no one has attacked us but (Moslems) did go on the rampage.
That was wrong, or perhaps people pretended they did not
understand it to be wrong." (pan)