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.