JP/3/fatwa

JP/3/fatwa

NU clerics issue 'fatwa' to support Wiranto

Indra Harsaputra
Pasuruan

Several influential clerics of the country's largest Muslim
organization issued an edict on Thursday for its members to vote
for Wiranto and Solahuddin Wahid in next month's presidential
election.

The edict stressed that Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) members should
not abstain from voting in the July 5 election and that Muslims
were prohibited under Islamic law, or sharia, from choosing a
woman leader, except in an emergency.

"The sharia bans women from becoming leaders. But if Megawati
(Soekarnoputri) is elected president, we will support her," said
Abdullah Faqih.

Faqih and a number of other influential NU clerics gathered in
the East Java regency of Pasuruan, from which resulted the
edict's issuance.

Other prominent mullahs from East Java in attendance were
Chotib Umar from Jember, Idris Abdul Hamid from Pasuruan, Soleh
Kasim from Sidoarjo and Lutfi Abdul Hadi from Malang.

Dozens of other heads of NU-affiliated boarding schools across
Java and Solahuddin also attended the meeting, which appeared to
be politically motivated, as it again raised the issue of a woman
leader ahead of the election. Megawati is making a reelection bid
alongside running mate NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi, who is
suspended for the duration of the campaign period.

The clerics are known for their loyal support of former
president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, who was ousted by
supporters of Megawati in 2001. The nearly blind Gus Dur has been
disqualified from the presidential race because of his poor
health.

Faqih, leader of the Langitan Islamic boarding school in
Tuban, East Java, said the NU mullahs had made a mature decision
in choosing to support Wiranto and Solahuddin.

Solahuddin is Gus Dur's younger brother.

It was not clear, however, whether Wiranto's poor human rights
record was included in the clerics' consideration. Wiranto has
been indicted by a East Timorese court for crimes against
humanity in the 1999 Dili massacre.

The mullahs have also decided to back Gus Dur's lawsuit
against the General Elections Commission for its ruling on his
presidential bid.

Faqih hoped Gus Dur would change his decision to abstain from
voting in order to protest what he and human rights activists
allege to be discriminatory treatment.

"We have issued a fatwa for people to use their right to vote
in the upcoming presidential election, as it will determine the
future of the nation," he said.

He also called on NU members to maintain national unity
despite rivalries among the political elite.