Gus Dur threatens to split NU if Hasyim wins

Gus Dur threatens to split NU if Hasyim wins

Indra Harsaputra and Muhammad Nafik, Surabaya/Jakarta

Rivalry is heating up inside Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) ahead of its
national congress to elect a new leader, which observers say
could lead to a split in the country's largest Muslim
organization.

Former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, who once chaired
NU for 15 years until 1999, threatened on Thursday to set up a
splinter group of the organization should incumbent NU chairman
Hasyim Muzadi win his reelection bid in the congress to be held
from Nov. 28 to Dec. 2.

"If Hasyim is reelected, I will prepare (the establishment of)
a rival NU faction as ordered by a number of senior ulemas," Gus
Dur said after opening a seminar in Surabaya, East Java.

He and Hasyim have long been at odds, most recently over
Hasyim's support for former president Megawati Soekarnoputri when
Hasyim agreed to stand as her running mate in the July and
September elections.

Gus Dur and his loyalists have accused Hasyim of breaching
khittah -- NU's commitment made in 1984 to stay out of politics.

He said the plan to set up a rival NU faction was supported by
some 25 ulemas from Java, West Nusa Tenggara and South Kalimantan
during a meeting held on Nov. 23 in Surabaya.

It was one of five options aimed at blocking Hasyim from
contesting the upcoming five-day leadership congress in
Surakarta, Central Java.

The other options included asking Hasyim not to seek
nomination for reelection and backing Gus Dur's nomination for
chairman of the NU's syuriah lawmaking body.

An elected syuriah leader is authorized to reject a candidate
for the chair of the NU central executive board (tanfidziyah)
that Hasyim now leads.

If Hasyim goes ahead with his nomination bid, the ulema who
attended the recent Surabaya meeting would send a special team to
ask prominent cleric and poet KH Mustofa Bisri to challenge the
incumbent in the congress.

The last option was to return the leadership of the NU central
board to the descendants of NU founder KH Hasyim Asy'ari -- Gus
Dur's grandfather.

Among the ulema present at the Nov. 23 meeting were KH Mas
Subadar, KH Abdurrahman Chudlori, Anas Arsyad, KH Ubaidillah
Faqih, KH Yahya Masduqi, KH Warsun, KH Muhaiminan Gunardo, KH
Sholeh Khozim and KH Kholilurrohman.

Speaking in Jakarta on Thursday, Hasyim said he had yet to
decide whether to contest the congress or not. "I will announce
my decision during a special session at the congress," he said.

It was likely that Hasyim would cancel his reelection bid if
the upcoming congress voted for Gus Dur as the new syuriah head
or deputy.

However, Hasyim has dismissed Gus Dur's threat to set up a
rival NU camp. "I don't believe that a rival NU will exist
because it will be very difficult to make this happen," he said.

Similarly, NU deputy chairman Masdar Farid Mas'udi said he
doubted Gus Dur's threat was serious. "I think neither Gus Dur
nor Hasyim want to see the NU in disarray," Masdar said.

Hasyim's backer, Ali Maschan Moesa, who is East Java's NU
chairman, criticized Gus Dur for making such a threat. "If Gus
Dur recognizes democratic mechanisms, he should not have
supported the idea of establishing a splinter NU faction," he
told The Jakarta Post.

Ali said it would be difficult for Gus Dur and his loyalists
to pressure Hasyim to bow out of the race to head the congress
for a second five-year term as Hasyim had the support of many
provincial and regional branches.