Gus Dur gets cooked by Court
Kurniawan Hari, Jakarta
Highly respected cleric and former president Abdurrahman Wahid has seemingly thrown in the towel before the presidential election campaign has even begun, as a response to the Supreme Court's ruling against him on the health issue.
"I'm not running for the presidential race," he stated on Friday after being informed that the Court had tossed out his challenge of an election regulation, which stipulates that all presidential candidates pass an eye examination. The decision was issued on Thursday.
Like the other presidential aspirants Abdurrahman, or Gus Dur, has undergone health examinations but the results have yet to be announced.
Besides stating that he would not run in the July 5 election, the visually impaired, outspoken cofounder of the National Awakening Party (PKB) added that he would not endorse any candidate, thereby further dimming the hopes of at least two large parties trying to woo figures from the country's largest Muslim organization, the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).
Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) have been courting NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi and other influential clerics as possible running mates for their presidential candidates, but have also said that the vice presidential candidate would depend on the blessing of Abdurrahman. He remains very influential in NU, which claims 40 million members.
Gus Dur did however, express hope that chief justice Bagir Manan would annul the court's decision. The PKB, currently third in terms of votes after the April 5 legislative election, filed the request to the Court to revoke the health ruling issued by the General Elections Commission (KPU).
PKB charges that the ruling discriminates against the disabled, while adding that the Constitution and Election Law recognize the political right of all law-abiding citizens to run for the country's top office.
The Constitutional Court ruled in favor of the KPU last week, saying that medical examinations were required for presidential and vice presidential candidates.
The KPU, in cooperation with the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI), has imposed health requirements for presidential and vice presidential candidates, including eyesight requirements, which have been viewed by many as an effort to prevent Gus Dur from standing.
Antara reported from Surabaya, East Java, that supporters of Gus Dur on Friday collected signatures in support of the cleric to run for president. So far over 6 million out of PKB's more than 10 million votes have come from East Java, the party's stronghold where PKB ranks highest with over 30 percent of votes according to KPU's provisional election results. The voters are believed to be NU supporters who want Gus Dur as president. Blind people in Lampung in South Sumatra and protesters in wheelchairs in Jakarta have also demonstrated against the KPU ruling.
Meanwhile, a group of NU members in Bandung, West Java suggested that PKB nominate either Solahuddin Wahid or Khofifah Indar Parawansa, both prominent NU figures, as presidential candidates. Solahuddin is another influential cleric and Gus Dur's younger, healthier brother, while Khofifah is a former PKB legislator and served as a minister in Gus Dur's Cabinet.
Hasyim Muzadi - Page 4
Related photo - Page 2