Megawati's bid suffers setback
Megawati's bid suffers setback
JAKARTA (JP): Abdurrahman Wahid, Amien Rais, Nur Mahmudi
Ismail and Hamzah Haz agreed on Saturday that Islam bars women
from becoming heads of state, delivering the heaviest blow yet to
Megawati Soekarnoputri's presidential bid.
The four politicians -- respectively the founder of the
National Awakening Party (PKB), the chairman of the National
Mandate Party (PAN), the president of the Justice Party (PK) and
chairman of the United Development Party (PPP) -- acknowledged
for the first time that the predominately Muslim country may not
be ready to accept a woman president. The four men had never
previously mentioned that Megawati, whose party the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) now looks set to
win largest share of the vote in the polls, might not be accepted
by some Muslim elements.
Abdurrahman, the chairman of Indonesia's largest Islamic
organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), visited Amien Rais at the
office of Muhammadiyah, which Amien used to chair. The two
leaders then agreed that both organizations respected an Islamic
ruling that women cannot become heads of state.
Shortly afterward, Nur Mahmudi visited Amien, while
Abdurrahman met with Hamzah Haz at the Nahdlatul Ulama
headquarters, according to Antara.
"If Megawati was elected (president), the Islamic movement
would not accept her, but if she's not elected, there's no
guarantee the situation would be better," Abdurrahman said after
meeting with Hamzah. "It's really a dilemma. Which is why we held
those consultations to seek a solution.
"The meetings are for consultations regarding the post-
election situation, where a new configuration is emerging after
Megawati's party looks set to win," he said.
Amien said Indonesia was being divided into two camps, one
supporting Megawati and the other supporting incumbent President
B.J. Habibie.
"There's this image that if Megawati is elected (people) will
rebel, and if Habibie is elected, there will also be rebellion.
We should find a way out of this dilemma. I see Gus Dur as
standing outside of this polarization, which is why we held that
consultation," Amien said.
Nur Mahmudi supported Amien's statement.
Separately, at a press briefing with Hamzah, Abdurrahman said
he personally supported Megawati for the top job, but that he
must answer to Nahdlatul Ulama ulemas, many of whom still abide
by Islamic rules that a woman cannot become president.
"Personally, I think it's possible for Megawati to be elected,
but regarding questions about her ability to govern, that's
another matter."
Abdurrahman once supported suggestions that Soeharto's eldest
daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana succeed her father to the
presidency.
Abdurrahman has long been known as Megawati's closest ally
and even her mentor, but after a meeting last week with Habibie,
he hinted that support for Megawati might no longer be
forthcoming, because he could not guarantee that ulemas would
accept her presidency.
"If Megawati is elected, the United Development Party (PPP)
would not agree to join the administration," he said.
However, Abdurrahman promised on Saturday to seek a "win-win
solution".
When asked whether the meetings also discussed the possibility
of an alternative presidential candidate, Abdurrahman said: "That
is confidential. I must not talk, or everything will fail."
Military
When journalists suggested the possibility of naming a
military man as the next president, Abdurrahman said: "Let's hope
not."
Despite Abdurrahman's statement that ulemas did not support
Megawati's presidency, so far there has been no unified stance
among Muslim clerics.
Some 200 ulemas in East Java, for instance, recently aired
their reluctance for a woman president. But on Saturday, in the
Central Java town of Rembang, an open gathering of the Forum of
National Pesantren Ulema stated they would accept whoever was
elected to the position.
Attended by some 100 ulemas, the forum said "in the event of a
difficult political decision, we should seek a choice with the
least disadvantage".
The nominated president would be accepted "as long as (the
decision) was for the good of the nation and as long as the
president was elected by the peoples' representatives".
Central Java was one of the key provinces where political
parties fiercely competed for Muslim votes. In provisional
results of the poll tallies, PDI Perjuangan won in the province.
The Muslim clerics stated that in regard to the presidential
election they would look to "prioritize avoiding risks and the
threat of a greater loss", and in this context the forum said
gender was not an issue.
The forum was initiated by Nahdlatul Ulama leaders, including
Cholil Bisri and Mustafa Bisri. Attendants included ulema from
Java, Madura, Bali and Sumatra. Prominent clerics were Hasyim
Muzadi, who chairs East Java's NU branch, Amien Makruf of Jakarta
and Mbah (Grandfather) Lim from Klaten, who was once described as
Abdurrahman's spiritual advisor.
The ulema called on all Indonesians to support "total reform
and political democratization, and show that support by
expressing a more mature attitude" in politics and as citizens.
Calls based on religion to support political interests were
farcical, the forum said.
Mustafa told The Jakarta Post the struggle for power "has
drowned the most basic goal of the reform movement, which is to
reach democracy... and to save the people from the muddy hole of
trouble gripping almost all spheres of life".
As of 8:30 p.m. Saturday the PDI Perjuangan was leading with
22.67 million votes. Golkar came a far second with 11.85 million
and PKB third with 11.04 million.
As of 5 p.m. PDI Perjuangan had earned 67 seats in the House
of Representatives and Golkar had gained 33 seats. PKB won 32
seats and PPP had 14. Others had not reached the threshold of 2
percent of the 462 contested seats.
On Friday in Semarang, PPP announced it had ruled out the
possibility of forming a coalition with any of the major parties
-- front-runner PDI Perjuangan, PKB, PAN or Golkar.
A PPP leader, Karmani, said PPP would be better off playing
the role of a "strategic opposition". (swe/har)