Ansor rejects possible Gus Dur candidacy

Kurniawan Hari and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Ansor, a youth group of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the country's largest Muslim organization, has announced that it will not support the possible presidential candidacy of former NU chairman Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid.

Instead, the group said it would search for a "more suitable position" for Gus Dur, who was president from October 1999 to July 2001 before being impeached.

"We all respect Gus Dur and we will find a more suitable position for him. We will support a candidate who has never been president," Ansor acting chairman Zuhdi Muhdlor said here on Tuesday.

Ansor had been chaired by Gus Dur relative Syaifullah Yusuf, who resigned the post recently after being appointed secretary- general of the National Awakening Party (PKB), which has close ties with the NU. Syaifullah is known to be an opponent of Gus Dur, PKB's patron and cofounder.

Zuhdi acknowledged that according to organizational hierarchy, Ansor would fall in step with the NU, which is chaired by Hasyim Muzadi, when it came time to back a presidential candidate.

Hasyim is likely to play some role in the presidential election on July 5. He could either be nominated by the PKB or by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) as Megawati Soekarnoputri's vice presidential running mate.

Zuhdi refused to reveal Ansor's preference for presidential candidate, saying there were numerous NU members in different organizations and political parties.

"There are so many NU members, including Gus Dur, Hasyim Muzadi, Jusuf Kalla and Solahuddin Wahid," he said.

Separately, Gus Dur, who hopes to make a run for the presidency, met with Gen. (ret) Wiranto, a presidential hopeful from Golkar Party, on Tuesday. Gus Dur also met with Yogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, who earlier withdrew from Golkar's series of conventions to pick the party's presidential candidate.

The conventions, which began in August last year and will last until this April, are aimed at selecting the strongest presidential and vice presidential candidates from the party. There are now six potential candidates, down from 10 in August.

In the morning, Gus Dur, who hopes to win the PKB's presidential nomination, held a closed-door meeting with the Sultan, who said the two discussed the legislative and presidential elections.

"There was no talk about political support," the Sultan said.

Hamengkubuwono withdrew from the Golkar conventions in protest over the acquittal by the Supreme Court of Golkar Party leader and House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung over a graft case.

Gus Dur also visited the Al Asy'ariyah Islamic boarding school in the Central Java town of Wonosobo, about a two-hour drive northwest of Yogyakarta.

The boarding school, led by NU figure Kyai Munthohar, was hosting a gathering of Koran readers from across Java and Madura. Akbar, who also has his eyes on the presidency, and Siti Hardiyanti "Tutut" Rukmana, a presidential hopeful from the Concern for the Nation Functional Party (PKPB), visited the boarding school earlier in the day.

Gus Dur's visit to the school coincided with a visit by Wiranto.

Asked whether the meeting was aimed at the possibility of using the PKB as his political vehicle for the presidency, Wiranto said: "Politically speaking, it probably was. It depends on how you see it."

He added that he would not accept a nomination as a vice presidential candidate.

Wiranto, who was dismissed as coordinating minister for political and security affairs by Gus Dur in 2000, met with Gus Dur last month during the wedding of the daughter of a noted NU ulema in East Java.