Gus Dur faces uphill battle in quest for presidency

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.