Habibie told Gus Dur to resign

Habibie told Gus Dur to resign

JAKARTA (JP): State Minister for Research and Technology B.J. Habibie has confirmed he asked Abdurrahman Wahid to resign last year from the chairmanship of Indonesia's largest Moslem organization, the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).

Habibie also said yesterday that he believed "it would probably be better for the NU" if Abdurrahman steps down from the 30-million member organization, which at the time was beginning to be entangled in leadership conflicts.

Habibie, who is also chairman of the influential Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI), confirmed he sent Soetjipto Wirosardjono, a member of his staff, to meet Abdurrahman and deliver his request.

The information was revealed yesterday after Habibie, in his capacity as a cabinet minister, met with the Commission X overseeing science and technology at the House of Representatives. Reporters tried to confirm Abdurrahman's earlier statement that Habibie wanted him to resign from the socioreligious organization.

Habibie first declined to answer but then asked Soetjipto to answer the press' questions, but he stood nearby and listened to the session.

Soetjipto said he met with Abdurrahman, better known as Gus Dur, during the fasting month of Ramadhan last year.

"I received amanah (a mandate) from Habibie to see Gus Dur, and (tell him) that it would probably be better for the NU if he resigned from the NU," Soetjipto said.

Habibie assented, saying "it would probably be better for the NU".

Abdurrahman is one of the staunchest critics of ICMI. He has made his stance known from the inception of the association which has since become very close to the power holders.

He refused to resign, believing that it was not what President Soeharto would have wanted.

Soetjipto justified his mission on the grounds that: "The NU is a national asset" but that communication with the government is strained due to internal conflict. "How can the NU communicate with the government if the present condition persists?" he said.

"The emergence of the rival executive board in NU is caused by poor communication between the government and the organization's original board," he said.

The NU has for the past year been embroiled in an internal rift. Abu Hasan, who lost the 1994 chairmanship election to Abdurrahman, held an extraordinary congress and set up a rival board earlier this month.

Abu is said to be backed by some elements in the political elite, whereas Abdurrahman is also leader of the Forum Demokrasi, a loose group of the government's staunchest critics.

Observers have been calling for reconciliation between the two men, while the government has already offered to mediate. Other observers have suggested that the organization should break the impasse by dropping both men and choosing a third figure to lead it.

Abdurrahman earlier said that there have indeed been campaigns by some parties to name K.H. Wahid Zaini, a prominent NU leader in East Java, as the alternative chairman.

In Surabaya, K.H. Wahid Zaini confirmed that he has received requests from "a group of people" to become chairman of the executive board NU.

"Several times people came to me, asking me to be the alternative leader," according to the master of the Nurul Jadid Pesantren (Moslem boarding school) in Probolinggo, 100 kilometer east of Surabaya.

"I told them I'd be willing to lead the NU, on the condition that Gus Dur and Abu Hasan become Rais Am (chairman of law making body) and deputy respectively," he told The Jakarta Post by telephone, laughing.

Wahid refused to reveal the identities of his guests, but quoted them as saying that his conditions were not acceptable. "They could never be accepted," the guests said.

Wahid himself called on Abdurrahman and Abu Hasan to reconciliate and resolve the conflict together.

Wahid, who is also an advisor of the Rabithah Maahidil Islamy, an association of thousands of NU pesantren (boarding schools), is known to be a "neutral" figure. During the 1994 chairmanship race, he had often been named as potential chairman.

When the congress seemed to be on the verge of a conflict between the camps of Abdurrahman and Abu Hasan, he was said to be the most suitable alternative figure.

However, Wahid never declared any intention to run for the chairmanship. (imn/15/swe)