Hamzah asks NU to back national reconciliation
Hamzah asks NU to back national reconciliation
JAKARTA (JP): Vice President Hamzah Haz visited Nahdlatul
Ulama (NU) leaders on Tuesday, asking the country's largest
Muslim organization to help reconcile conflicting groups in the
crisis-plagued nation.
"Pak Hamzah is trying to boost national reconciliation to help
the country go forward," NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi said on
Tuesday after meeting with the Vice President.
Hasyim said that during the 25-minute talk at the NU's new
headquarters on Jl. Kramat Raya, Central Jakarta, Hamzah did not
touch on political issues but insisted on the importance for the
nation to remain united.
"We will meet again after the new Cabinet has been announced
to plan for a reconciliatory meeting," Hasyim said.
During the Special Session of the People's Consultative
Assembly (MPR) which elected him to the vice presidency last
week, Hamzah had called on the people to stick together amid the
current hardship.
Hamzah is also a member of the NU, which was once led by
former president Abdurrahman Wahid. The NU claims to have about
40 million members.
About 800 Muslim clerics affiliated to the NU met in Tangerang
on the eve of the MPR Special Session to declare the event
illegal. The MPR dismissed Abdurrahman on July 23 and appointed
his deputy Megawati Soekarnoputri as his successor.
During the MPR Special Session, the National Awakening Party
(PKB), whose officials and members are mostly NU members,
prohibited its members from participating in the presidential and
vice presidential elections.
Hasyim refused to say if the NU recognized the new national
leadership, saying only that the NU was not a political
organization and so would not get involved in any kind of
political struggle in the country.
"We have to underline that NU will not get involved in
political conflict in the country. And there is no need to
woo the NU because it will remain aloof to the political
developments," Hasyim asserted.
"We will not provide any political advise. NU will simply
remain a religious organization."
On the last days of Abdurrahman's presidency, the NU issued a
statement saying Abdurrahman was a legitimate president and all
efforts to topple him would be considered a rebellion.
"The most important thing now, as the NU always stresses, is
for the political elite to reconcile so that the country can
remain united. That is what we discussed with Pak Hamzah," Hasyim
said.
The meeting was also attended by several NU officials, namely
NU deputy secretary-general Muhyiddin Arabusman. (dja)