NU, 70 years in the whirlpool of politics

NU, 70 years in the whirlpool of politics

By Santi W.E. Soekanto and Wisnu Pramudya

JAKARTA (JP): An elderly kyai (Moslem teacher) from a remote office of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) wept openly when he realized he had inadvertently been caught in a conflict between the elite layer of Indonesia's largest Moslem organization.

"Had I known the invitation was from Abu Hasan and the meeting was actually a congress to set up a rival board, I wouldn't have come. I'm loyal to Gus Dur," he said.

The kyai came to Jakarta earlier this month thinking that he was being invited to a gathering which would see chairman Abdurrahman Wahid, better known as Gus Dur, and his foe Abu Hasan reconciliated. As it turned out, the gathering, which lacked a police permit but proceeded relatively smoothly, was held by Abu Hasan and his group of dissenters.

The event, billed as an informal, friendly gathering, developed into an extraordinary congress in which the dissenters established a rival board chaired by Abu Hasan. Gus Dur's camp then threatened to dismiss the leading NU members from various regions.

The kyai, who felt cheated, along with a few others of the 500 participants, was one of the many casualties of the prolonged conflict within the 70-year-old organization. And there is bound to be more as Gus Dur and Abu fight it out.

Meanwhile, the government is in a no-win situation. Intervention would bring accusations of meddling, and allowing the conflict run its course will bring accusations that it has done nothing.

The leadership conflict is only one among many troubles stemming from the political whirlpool that the organization pledged in 1984 to stay away from. The organization, its name meaning "the revival of ulemas", will not be free from the conflicting push and pull of politics for some time.

K.H. Ali Yafie, a former NU leader, once said that "NU has learned much from politics, although it did not benefit much from the lessons." One benefit is that "the ulemas understand and have become more mature in dealing with politics."

This maturity is sorely needed to swim free of the political whirlpool because Moslem NU's 30-million members -- mainly living in rural areas -- are an attractive political network for any interest group.

The loyalty of NU members and supporters to their leaders is one reason outside efforts to drag it into politics will not cease.

Proof of this loyalty was seen in 1992 as 150,000 NU followers from various regions gathered under the scorching sun at the Senayan sports complex here because Gus Dur had "summoned" them. The number didn't touch the two million people originally expected, but Gus Dur's power is obvious.

Gus Dur recently warned that should anyone try to get rid of him or "dare to bother" him, a great number of NU members would be ready to defend him.

"Give me 15 minutes. Once I finished dialing one number, 20, no 25 thousand people will start surrounding my office," Media Indonesia quoted him as saying.

With such loyalty, summed up best by the Islamic phrase sami'na wa atho'na (to hear is to obey), Gus Dur was not merely boasting.

Inside

Given that politics is omnipresent in Indonesia, the organization needs a strong stance to avoid becoming a political object, as stated in its 1926 khittah (mission statement). The organization has twice reaffirmed its commitment to shun politics: at the 1984 congress in Situbondo, East Java, and the 1994 congress in the West Java village of Cipasung.

There stance is praised by the government. In Cipasung, President Soeharto told the organization it had made "a brave and right decision".

"History has recorded that in the past Nahdlatul Ulama had once been involved in practical politics...(and) was forced to deal with problems which were not easy to solve," Soeharto said.

"With this decision, NU will be able to pay greater attention to its mission, as well as give its members the mandate to be responsibly involved in practical politics individually," the President said.

Gus Dur, however, claimed that the real issue was not whether to enter politics, but "whether its people are free, clean from the various dirty products of politics".

Observers believe this is the task for which Gus Dur is best suited. The controversial scholar may have confused some Indonesians by re-entering the 1994 chairmanship race "to save NU from politics" after declaring he would not run. His statements and conduct clearly flirt with politics, adding to the confusion.

Japanese anthropologist Mitsuo Nakamura, Dutch observer Martin van Bruinessen, and local observer Emha Ainun Nadjib all believe NU needs Gus Dur to survive political temptation.

Van Bruinessen said the chairman's greatest responsibility of the chairman is to see the organization through important political transformations.

"His role would be to see that his members are protected from various currents of political interests," he said in 1994. "This chairman will need to be able to converse with every layer of society...only Gus Dur fits the bill."

So far, Gus Dur has managed well. Most NU members appear not to be bothered by the push and pull of politics. Challenges from inside, however, abound and come from Gus Dur's wish to reform the traditional organization by introducing secular concepts and thoughts. He also wants to give a greater role to young intellectuals who are well-versed in these foreign elements.

Challenges also come from those who don't like the current leadership and the organization's structure. NU has three main bodies: the Mustasyar (advisory council), the Syuriyah (law- making body chaired by ulema K.H. Ilyas Ruhiyat chairs), and the Tanfidziyah (executive board chaired by Gus Dur). Although the executive board should actually be the lower rung of command, any observer can see Gus Dur has been eclipsing the other structures.

Abu Hasan and K.H. Yusuf Hasyim, a former leader and uncle of Gus Dur, are two of the biggest challenges Gus Dur must surmount.

Yusuf Hasyim, better known as Pak Ud, never misses an opportunity to criticize his nephew. Over the past several years he has repeatedly said that Gus Dur's stance on many issues and his activities in the Forum Demokrasi, a loose group of government critics, reduces his suitability to lead NU.

"Gus Dur has been walking alone. He's separated from the rest of NU," Yusuf Hasyim once said of Gus Dur.

Outside

Observers like Mochamad Sobary believe that NU needs to shun politics while maintaining its effort to expand its members' political horizons.

This was the aim of the NU leaders when they broke away from the Moslem-based United Development Party (PPP) during the 1982 general election. It was also on their minds when they vowed to return to the Khittah in 1984 and in 1994.

Ilyas Ruhiat said that "politics is not haram (religiously forbidden). "It has important roles in the social order, and NU frees its members to enter politics, but also asks them to bear the political risks without dragging the organization into the fray," he said.

Another senior member, Munasir Ali, agreed.

"After the vow to return to the Khittah, NU members will be everywhere," including Golkar, the PPP and the nationalist Indonesian Democratic Party, he said.

The question that has emerged, however, is how to steer the organization along the delicate line separating "a political free institution" and "politicking members".

Many people believe, as does Gus Dur, that the government is does support NU's position.

"The government is not ambiguous in its stance," Gus Dur said recently. However, "there are individual officials who deviate from government policy."

The "individual officials" who hold "important positions in the country", are said to be the people who backed Abu Hasan's move to establish a rival board. "There are people who backed Abu," Gus Dur charged.

This split within the political elite represents an outside force which has kept the conflict within NU alive.