Handout row overshadows NU's national congress

Handout row overshadows NU's national congress

Blontank Poer, The Jakarta Post, Surakarta

Days before the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) begins a national congress,
many would-be participants complained on Wednesday that they had
not received official invitations from the steering committee.

Some also grumbled that thy had not received handouts for the
discussions, warning that a lack of handouts might mislead
participants as regards the issues to be discussed at the
congress.

A source, who declined to be named, told The Jakarta Post
that many leading NU figures had not received invitations to
the congress, including Yusuf Hasyim, a son of Hasyim Asyari, one
of the founders of the NU, the country's largest Muslim
organization.

Jazuli, the syuriah (lawmaking body) head of the Klaten,
Central Java, branch of the NU, confirmed that the congress's
steering committee had yet to send out handouts prepared by the
NU executive board.

"Without handouts on the issues to be discussed during the
congress, participants will face difficulties in following what
is going on. This is a problem given that they are supposed to
represent the views of NU members in their respective areas at
the event," he told The Post.

Handouts for an NU congress are usually distributed months
before the congress starts so that the leaderships of NU branches
at provincial and regental/municipal levels may discuss it the
issues in advance.

However, the head of the Surakarta NU branch, Mubin Shoimuri,
did not consider the steering committee's failure to distribute
handouts to participants before the congress to be a problem.

"They will be distributed when the participants register to
attend the congress," he said.

Steering committee chairman Adnan said that the issues to be
discussed during the congress had been publicized during a
working meeting attended by all NU branches recently.

Some of the major religious issues to be discussed by the
congress are the use of DNA to prove parentage and the Islamic
legal basis for the use of bank deposit interest for the payment
of wakaf (charitable donations).

Adnan, who is also the head of NU branch in Central Java, said
that the religious issues were more important than other issues
to be discussed by the congress.

Said Aqil Siradj, who heads the NU executive board's team
charged with preparing the handouts for the congress, said that
the handouts have been distributed to all NU branches across the
country.

Apart from the DNA and wakaf issues, the team would also
discuss issues connected with gambling and prostitution, Said
explained.

"The problems of gambling and prostitution have reached
alarming proportions and need to be dealt with," he said.

Jazuli said that the congress needed to spend more time
discussing social issues, in addition to the usual religious
issues.

"Most NU members are farmers and workers. The congress will
not benefit its members if it fails to address their problems,"
he said.

The NU congress will be held in Surakarta from Nov. 28 to Dec.
2. Some 5,000 participants from NU branches across the country
and abroad, as well as observers, are expected to attend the
congress.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is slated to open the
event.