Gus Dur faces uphill battle in quest for presidency

Tiarma Siboro and Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Surabaya

Former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid is facing an uphill challenge in his bid to regain power, even within his National Awakening Party (PKB).

The PKB chief patron was dealt a big blow on Friday evening when party executives voted against his demand for dismissal of secretary-general Syaifullah Yusuf. Gus Dur's camp lost by just one vote with the scorecard standing at 18-17 in favor of Syaifullah.

The decision allows Syaifullah to breath a sigh of relief at least until after the 2004 general election, when the party will decide his fate.

Political observer Riswanda Imawan said on Saturday the results of the vote reflected Gus Dur's diminishing influence in the party he helped found in 1998.

"As a politician Gus Dur looks to have lost control over the party and is at odds with NU clerics over the reshuffle issue. But as a Muslim organization figure, I think he is still a respected leader whose thoughts are considered law by the clerics," he added.

He further suggested the party name a new presidential candidate as Gus Dur's dismissal from the presidency in 2000 would play havoc with his chances of winning the 2004 presidential election.

He was referring to a survey conducted by the UGM-run local political and regional autonomy institute which showed that more than 28 percent of PKB's constituents would move to other political parties because they no longer believed in Gus Dur.

The survey of some 1,500 respondents also revealed that many constituents of the country's big political parties -- the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), the Golkar Party the United Development Party (PPP), the National Mandate Party (PAN) -- would withdraw their support should these parties fail to name alternative figures as their presidential candidates.

Riswanda, nevertheless, applauded the PKB decision to vote, saying the move reflected its attempt to remain independent from Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) clerics who earlier warned the party against dismissing Syaifullah otherwise they would consider an alternative party.

NU, the country's largest Muslim organization, is known to be the bedrock of mass support for the PKB.

Meanwhile, political analyst Arbi Sanit from the University of Indonesia (UI) said that internal dispute had affected Gus Dur's leadership in the party. He believed, however, the former president would be able to maintain his influence if he managed to accommodate aspirations of the clerics.

Arbi shared Riswanda's view that Gus Dur would have no chance of winning his second term as the president because he had been removed from the palace, regardless of the high profile politicking behind the dismissal.

Gus Dur was dismissed by the People's Consultative Assembly after the lawmakers accused him of graft involving Rp 35 billion belonging to the State Logistic Agency (Bulog). The allegation was not proven.

In the East Java town of Malang, NU clerics welcomed the result of the vote, saying PKB executives had finally listened to the aspirations of the clerics.

"We (the clerics) feel satisfied with the party's decision because they (the party's figures) have finally listened to us by delaying the move against Syaifullah," Masduki Mahfudh, chairman of the law making body of NU's East Java chapter, said.

Another cleric, Muchich Muzadi, an elder brother of NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi, expressed a similar view.