Gus Dur defends close relations with Tutut

JAKARTA (JP): Chairman of the 30-million strong Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Moslem Organization, Abdurrahman Wahid has defended his close relations with Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, deputy chief of the Golkar party.

Gus Dur, as Abdurrahman is better known, said yesterday that he meant to help Hardiyanti develop her political skills.

"We need to give the opportunity for the country's rising stars to appear before the NU public," Gus Dur told journalists at his office.

Gus Dur and Tutut, as President Soeharto's eldest daughter is better known, were seen together in public twice last week.

He met her in Sidoarjo, about 25 kilometers south of Surabaya, Wednesday. Some 10,000 NU members attended the informal meeting. On Sunday, they appeared before an NU gathering in Semarang.

The event made front-page headlines in local newspapers and has raised speculations that Gus Dur, known for his critical stand toward the government, is moving closer to Golkar.

NU, Indonesia's largest socioeducational organization and once a powerful political party, has shunned politics but given its members the freedom to affiliate with any party.

Last year, Gus Dur was often seen in public with Megawati Soekarnoputri who lost her chairmanship of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) in a government-backed congress.

"We want to give the same treatment to Tutut, Megawati, Siswono Yudohusodo, Sarwono Kusumaatmaja and Akbar Tanjung," he said, referring to several prominent leaders and government officials.

Siswono is the minister of transmigration, Sarwono the state minister of environment, while Akbar is the state minister of public housing.

Gus Dur acknowledged that some NU activists, especially the youth, are not happy with his latest association with Tutut and want him to stay politically neutral.

Despite the opposition, Gus Dur said he planned more public appearances with her in Madiun, East Java, on April 12 and in Kebumen, Central Java, on April 20.

Several members of NU youth groups in Jombang and Bangkalan in East Java boycotted Wednesday's gathering, while chiefs of the NU's Lamongan and Bangkalan chapters ordered their members not to attend the gathering.

"For the NU, differences of opinion are something usual. You even have to be prepared to get a slap in the face for that," he said. (imn)