Gus Dur presses ahead with plan to split NU

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.