Gus Dur threatens to dissolve Ansor

JAKARTA (JP): Chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Moslem organization, Abdurrahman Wahid, threatened to dissolve NU's youth wing, Ansor, for supporting the ruling Golkar group.

Abdurrahman said Ansor's maneuver goes against NU's apolitical stance. The organization dedicates itself to social and religious missions.

"Ansor should quit NU if it insists on supporting Golkar," said the controversial Abdurrahman, better known as Gus Dur.

Ansor chairman Iqbal Assegaf stated during a seminar organized by Golkar on Wednesday that Ansor would support Golkar in next year's general election.

Iqbal said that as a Golkar cadre, he had the right to bring Ansor onto Golkar's turf. He claimed he had consulted with senior NU leaders.

The 30-million strong NU, once a powerful political party, pledged in 1984 to abandon politics but guaranteed its members the individual freedom to join any political organization.

Before NU proclaimed itself apolitical, Abdurrahman himself was a Golkar member of the People's Consultative Assembly.

Senior NU members are active in all three political organizations: Golkar, the Moslem-oriented United Development Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party.

Abdurrahman said he would not regret dissolving Ansor.

"We can establish a substitute organization," he said. "I just don't understand why he did it. It's an unwise move."

He said Iqbal would have to defend his move during an upcoming congress.

Abdurrahman said Iqbal betrayed NU's apolitical stance.

"It is okay if he personally joins Golkar, but he should not bring Ansor along," he said. (01)