Masses follow leaders: Choirul

SURABAYA (JP): Choirul Anam, who failed in 1994 to regain the position of East Java chapter of GP Anshor (the youth wing of Nahdlatul Ulama) which he had held for two terms, is among Abdurrahman Wahid's trusted youth figures.

"Perhaps because I was too close to Gus Dur (Abdurrahman) I didn't win," he said lightly.

And yet Choirul is influential among, or maybe even controls, the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) security volunteers known as Banser. He led thousands of youths who carried assortments of weapons, to flock the office of a newspaper for carrying reports which, Choirul believes, slandered Abdurrahman. The newspaper ran an apology for seven consecutive days on its front page.

Choirul is now chairman of the East Java provincial chapter of the National Awakening Party (PKB). He recently spoke with The Jakarta Post on conflicts between PKB supporters and those of the United Development Party (PPP).

Question: About the conflicts in East Java...

Answer: They did not happen just like that. Those clashes were provoked by some mubaligh (Muslim preachers)... on the PPP side. As well as outsiders that I don't know of.

I have listened to recordings of some of those preachers' speeches during their campaigning rallies. They made a lot of instigating remarks. How do you think the PKB members would react if they were told that Gus Dur and Matori (Abdul Djalil, the chairman of PKB) were goats?

Q: Don't PKB leaders do the same thing?

A: No they don't. If they did, then it's only a payback for the PPP. But formally, we forbid such a stance. Especially since I became the coordinator for the party's campaigning here. We have commitments.

Q: Of what?

A: We are committed against money politics. To keep the campaign safe and kind, not to commit any offenses, not to humiliate others... Elections have to proceed in an objective and fair manner.

We understand it would be impossible for us to prevent supporters from making street convoys, so we tell our supporters to do it in a peaceful way. Should there be any conflicts, we find solutions through deliberations or through legal actions.

This is important because we want to educate Indonesians about voting with full awareness (of the impact of their choice). No money politics, no pressure, no intimidation.

Q: How are you going to prevent clashes in Jepara from taking place here?

A: We try to help people understand that we, the party leaders, want to have peaceful campaigns and elections. The success depends on party leaders.

If there are still conflicts out there on the field, it's because the party leaders have not done their homework. Or they are being ignored by their followers.

Q: There were cases when people in PDI Perjuangan uniforms attacked supporters of other parties. What do you think about that?

A: It is not easy to control masses of people, especially people who were once made to suffer (like supporters of PDI Perjuangan). But we too, suffered, but if I said "no violence", they (the PKB supporters) would obey me.

Q: Once PKB was dubbed Partai Kerusuhan Bangsa (Party of Unrest) because there was almost always violence involved in your activities in the past...

A: Yes, I admit to that. It was very hard in the beginning. But you see now, our supporters are much better. When 5,000 Banser members asked for my permission to "visit" that newspaper, I said no.

So they reduced their number until only 500 were left. I could not say no any longer, because it would have meant killing their aspiration. They were enraged by the news about Gus Dur. So I said yes, but no violence. They did not do any harm then. They just talked and asked the newspaper to apologize, which it did.

Very much depends on leaders.

Q: What is your strategy to build a better image of PKB?

A: We want people to know that we are not a bunch of intimidating people. Unfortunately, we don't have our own media (to do the public relation campaign). We can't expect the common media to voice our public relation work, can we?

Q: Some Muslims believe the PKB fights to secularize the country for political gains.

A: How?

Q: By having close ties with non-Islamic organizations, including the PDI Perjuangan?..

A: Those who said that are new Islamic parties which are still concerned about the artificial issues of Islamic values. Theirs is a formality approach and they treat Islamic teaching as a mere symbol.

I am sorry, but PKB has advanced beyond that. We have gotten to the substance rather than appearance (of being Islamic). We go not for symbols, or labels, but for attitudes.

Our approach is cultural. We are inclusive. We tolerate pluralism. That is Islam. Islam tolerates pluralism.

Q: How are you going to win the votes in East Java?

A: We are optimistic. In 1955 (then) NU party won the elections. In 1971, even with the strong existence of Golkar, we still won 35 percent of the votes... The roots are still there. All these years we have been maintaining those roots. Automatically, NU members will vote for PKB. If not, there must be a mistake in identifying the parties.

Q: What do you think of coalition among parties?

A: There must be a coalition because we must fight the single majority (Golkar). We are interested in establishing alliances with parties who fight for the national unity and for the people. (26)