Gathering permits for NU rival board questioned
Gathering permits for NU rival board questioned
JAKARTA (JP): Observers are divided in their opinions on how
well police handled the recent congress by dissenters of the
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Moslem organization.
Legal expert Andi Muis at the Hasanuddin University in
Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi, welcome the police decision to
"allow" the gathering to proceed on Wednesday without significant
interruption, although it did not have a permit.
"It showed that the authorities are becoming more open and
tolerant gathering without permits," he said. "This is an
encouraging development."
Andi, however, said that the police stance could also be
interpreted as an inconsistency.
Hendardi of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, however, was
less warm. His organization has been very outspoken in its
campaign against the government policy which requires people to
apply for permits before holding any gathering.
The fact that the dissenters were able to hold the gathering
even without a permit was no cause for rejoicing yet, he pointed
out.
"The police have indeed acted in accordance with a newly-
issued decree requesting meeting organizers to simply notify the
authorities before holding events," he said.
However, "there's no guarantee that if other organizations,
such as YLBHI or the independent labor union SBSI, wished to hold
similar gatherings in this way, they would be able to do so," he
said.
A group of NU members led by Abu Hasan held an extraordinary
congress here on Wednesday and established a rival executive
board. Abu, who lost the chairmanship race to incumbent chairman
Abdurrahman Wahid, said he did not need a permit, and only
notified the police of his plans.
Some of the controversy surrounding the gathering focused on
how Abu could have proceeded with his plan without a police
permit, and on whether it reflected the government's ambiguity
over the conflict in the 30-million strong organization.
National Police Chief Banurusman Astrosemitro said the police
will question the organizers of the extraordinary congress. He
also said the police, in accordance with the new decree, could
not just disperse the meeting.
The new regulation stipulates that police may disperse
gatherings only if they find violations, he pointed out.
"We could only wait because the organizers said they were only
having an informal meeting, not holding a congress," Banurusman
was quoted by Media Indonesia as saying yesterday.
Banurusman also said that the police have twice refused to
grant permission for Abu Hasan to hold a congress or conference.
Abu later amended his request for permit and, making use of the
issuance of the decree earlier this month, only notified the
police of the planned gathering.
The Ministry of Home Affairs had earlier stated that it would
not tolerate Abu Hasan's group if "they went too far".
During the gathering at the Haj Dormitory in Pondok Gede, East
Jakarta, on Wednesday, however, the Post observed that there were
attempts by the police to persuade the organizers to stop the
meeting.
Some afternoon programs were indeed canceled, but the
organizers later continued the meeting and held the extraordinary
congress in the evening.
Some police officers in the gathering venue admitted that they
were at a loss as to how to react to the meeting, and were forced
to just turn a blind eye to it.
A number of members of the House of Representatives also
questioned the police stance on the meeting. "This will confuse
the public," Andi Matalatta of the Golkar faction was quoted by
Media Indonesia as saying.
Oka Mahendra, also of Golkar, expressed astonishment because
the police have not acted in accordance with the existing
regulations. "The public would not have expected anything if only
the police had not promised to take firm action if the organizers
proceeded with the congress," Oka said. (swe)