Gus Dur presses ahead with plan to split NU

Nana Rukmana and Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post/Cirebon/Yogyakarta

Former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid will likely press ahead with his plan to soon break up Nahdlatul Ulama in protest against NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi's winning of a second five-year term last week.

At least 29 senior clerics met at the Buntet Islamic boarding school (Pesantren) in Cirebon, West Java, on Tuesday to endorse Gus Dur's plan to establish a splinter wing of the 40 million- strong NU.

The pro-Gus Dur group of clerics opposed the reelection of Hasyim at the NU national congress in Surakarta, Central Java, which ran from Nov. 28 to Dec. 2.

"Our rejection of the congress outcome is due to the presence of Hasyim Muzadi, whom we have opposed from the beginning because he has availed of the NU to further his own political ends," said Ubaidillah Faqih, a spokesman for the pro-Gus Dur clerics.

He said, however, that his group did not object to the reelection of Sahal Mahfudz as the chairman of the NU lawmaking body.

Gus Dur and his followers accused Hasyim of dragging the NU into politics when he stood as the running mate of Megawati Soekarnoputri in the July presidential election and the September runoff.

As the clerics held Tuesday's meeting, dozens of students from the Bunten pesantren staged a rally in support of Gus Dur, who was in attendance.

Those present at the meeting, which was hosted by Abdullah Abbas, included Muhaiminan Gunardo, Zaim A. Ma'sum, Mukhtar Muda Nasution, Tuan Guru Turmudzi Badarudin, Hamdan Kholid, Sanusi Baco, Abdurrahman Khudlori and Amin Azis.

Zaim said he and other clerics would boycott all activities organized by the Hasyim-led NU as a way of protesting against the outcome of the congress.

The protest would continue as long as Hasyim remains the leader of the NU, he added.

However, the move against Hasyim was opposed by at least 12 other clerics in Buntet, who slammed Gus Dur's plan to split the country's largest Muslim organization.

In Yogyakarta, a number of other clerics in support of Hasyim held a meeting on Tuesday to discuss efforts to curb Gus Dur's plan for a splinter NU group.

"We are concerned about Gus Dur's move to establish a rival NU faction and we hope that he will abort the plan," cleric Attabik Ali said after the meeting.

He said he had asked Gus Dur's brother Solahuddin Wahid for help, but the latter claimed he was powerless to stop Gus Dur from going ahead his threat.