No more practical politics, NU leaders say
No more practical politics, NU leaders say
Muhammad Nafik and Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Surakarta
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono opened a five-day congress of
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) here on Sunday, with its senior leaders
strongly criticizing the group, the largest Muslim organization
in the country, for its involvement in politics.
They demanded that the NU congress toughen its standing
orders, so its members can stick to khittah (the organization's
commitment made in 1984 to stay out of politics).
"If we want to examine it, the bitter experience that we have
undergone is because we have been inconsistent in applying
khittah," NU syuriah (lawmaking body) chairman Sahal Mahfudz said
in his opening speech during the congress.
"NU, according to its khittah, only focuses on 'the politics
of nationhood' to secure the unity of Republic of Indonesia and
'politics of the people' aimed at looking after the people, not
on 'the politics of power', or actual politics," he added.
Sahal's criticism came amid mounting accusations that NU
executive leader Hasyim Muzadi breached the khittah when he stood
as the running mate of former president Megawati Soekarnoputri in
the July and September elections.
Hasyim allegedly mobilized NU support for his vice
presidential bid, despite the fact that he was non-active as the
organization's chairman when he ran in the election.
The prevailing standing orders require NU executives to
temporarily relinquish their posts if they want to contest
government or legislative seats. NU officials are also banned
from serving as board members in any political party.
Sahal said NU does not prohibit its members from playing a
role in politics, but their lack of understanding of khittah or
their being inconsistent about the guidelines often leads them to
involve NU as an institution in politics, thus neglecting the
bigger interests of the organization and the nation at large.
"It's time for NU to fully wean NU members who use their right
to be involved in politics by setting strict rules in order to
stop their explicit and implicit practices that drag the
institution into political goals," he added.
Sahal, an influential and charismatic cleric who also chairs
the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), urged the NU to annul the
'modified khittah' it had agreed on during the 1999 congress in
Lirboyo, Kediri, which ordered the religious organization to
structurally back the National Awakening Party (PKB) it founded
months earlier.
Other senior ulema gave a positive response to Sahal's
comments, saying the current national congress being held at
Donohudan Haj Dormitory in Surakarta, Central Java, should renew
its commitment to quit politics.
"NU should not be linked to any political party, but NU is
inseparable from politics for the interests of its members and
the nation," said leader of the Lirboyo Islamic boarding school
Idris Marzuki, who backs the reelection bid of Hasyim for a
second five-year term.
Earlier in the day, President Susilo opened the congress,
which was attended by more than 3,500 leaders from NU's 450
provincial and regental branches across the country. Many Cabinet
ministers, diplomats and foreign observers also attended.
In his speech during the opening ceremony Susilo, who is
directly leading the anticorruption drive, asked the NU to help
ensure that Indonesia becomes a "clean and civilized nation".
"I am sure that under the leadership of the ulema, our people
will be able to demonstrate true human values, so we can become a
civilized society," he said.
The President said the NU had played a major role in nation
building in addressing backwardness and asked it to forge ahead
with this noble mission in the future.