Experts differ on Gus Dur's intent in meeting Soeharto

JAKARTA (JP): Controversy surrounding Abdurrahman Wahid's latest political maneuver continued on Tuesday with scholars issuing different opinions on whether it was justified for the Muslim leader to involve former president Soeharto in a planned dialog for national reconciliation.

Ali Mufiz, a professor at the School of Social and Political sciences at Diponegoro University, hailed Abdurrahman's courage to swim against the current of public will by inviting Soeharto to the dialog.

Separately, Muhadjir Darwin, a lecturer at the School of Social and Political Sciences at Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University said Abdurrahman visited Soeharto on Saturday not because he wanted a national dialog but to eclipse his political rival, Amien Rais.

Amien, also a Muslim leader, is a central figure in the reform movement. Both men, however, are part of the Ciganjur group of reform leaders which also consists of Megawati Soekarnoputri and Sultan Hamengkubuwono X.

Abdurrahman, popularly known as Gus Dur, met for the second time with Soeharto and said the former president should be involved in a national dialog because, despite his resignation last May, he was still powerful.

Ali said that Abdurrahman's political maneuver should be understood comprehensively because it was aimed at helping to end the rampant violence and at seeking a peaceful solution to the ongoing political crisis.

"I am of the opinion that Gus Dur's political maneuver is for the nation's good and for unity," he said.

He said he did not envision Abdurrahman seeking to satisfy any personal interest by his move.

He said, however, that it would be difficult to start a dialog immediately as it would require much time for all parties to agree to a common vision.

Soeharto, President B.J. Habibie and Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto, for instance, have their own concepts about the national dialog.

Muhadjir said Abdurrahman's meeting with Soeharto should be understood as a straight shot at Amien Rais. It was intended to create the impression that the latter was awkward and less accommodative toward other parties.

"Gus Dur met Soeharto not to establish reconciliation with the latter but to remove Amien from the national political stage," he said.

He said that with such a political maneuver, Abdurrahman was seeking to establish support from the powerful group which wanted to maintain the status quo. He said the move would cause a division among proreform groups.

"A national dialog would be impossible without Amien Rais. Soeharto's presence in the national dialog and Amien's removal would be the reform movement's anticlimax," he said. (har/44/rms)