Gus Dur meets Tutut in tightly guarded gathering
Gus Dur meets Tutut in tightly guarded gathering
SIDOARJO, East Java (JP): About 10,000 members of the
country's largest Moslem organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU),
gathered here yesterday to listen to their chairman Abdurrahman
Wahid and Golkar leader Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana.
Hundreds of police and security personnel guarded the meeting
and armored vehicles were posted around the small town, about 25
kilometers south of Surabaya.
Hardiyanti, better known as Mbak Tutut, was escorted to the
venue in a line of bullet-proof cars.
Wearing yellow -- the color of Golkar -- and a white veil,
Hardiyanti called on NU members to be weary of rumors.
"She's a future leader," Abdurrahman told the gathering to
justify her appearance at the meeting and his apparent shift of
political allegiance. "I'm taking her hand now to anticipate the
future.
"I invited her here so that she can directly meet NU members.
So that you can air your feelings before her, and so she can
understand them," he said.
Abdurrahman acknowledged that, a few months ago, he was closer
to Megawati Soekarnoputri, the ousted chief of the dispute-ridden
Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).
"I used to walk with (Megawati) to protect her. As it turns
out, she's still unsafe, well, that's it," he said.
NU has an estimated 30 million followers, and Abdurrahman has
great influence on many rural people. He once claimed that he
could summon thousands of NU youths to protect him within hours
of making a phone call.
Abdurrahman was thought to have formed a political entente
with Megawati to bolster both their political positions. Megawati
was then under great pressure from her government-backed rivals;
she was ousted in a party congress in Medan, North Sumatra, last
June, and replaced by Soerjadi.
Abdurrahman said yesterday that his recent intimacy with
Hardiyanti -- who is deputy chief of Golkar, a successful
businesswoman and the eldest daughter of President Soeharto --
was controversial.
Several members of NU youth groups in Jombang and Bangkalan in
East Java boycotted yesterday's gathering.
"For the NU, differences of opinion are usual. You even have
to be prepared to get a slap in the face for that. Never mind. As
long as we take it with grace, it's no problem," he said.
Abdurrahman said the NU was trying to get close to the three
political parties because it wished to help establish a balanced
political order.
"New leaders, new thoughts, new political networks are
emerging and the Nahdlatul Ulama must anticipate them well," he
said.
He said it did not matter "whether the NU is exploiting or
being exploited. Everything in this world can be exploited by
someone. Everything changes." (nur/swe)