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)