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.