Masses follow leaders: Choirul

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.
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