NU congress fails to elect chairman
NU congress fails to elect chairman
KEDIRI, East Java (JP): The election of the Nahdlatul Ulama
chairman and head of its law-making body here went beyond
midnight on Thursday due to disagreements on election rules.
Debate hindered the session in the Muslim organization's
congress prior to the election of Rois Aam Syuriah, the most
prestigious position which deals with legal matters in NU, after
representatives from Bengkulu demanded a vote.
Participants of the congress earlier agreed to a consensus to
name Sahal Mahfudz of Pati in Central Java the sole candidate for
the post.
The election, which was held under tight security, capped the
organization's six-day congress which is scheduled to be closed
by Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri on Friday.
As of 11.30 p.m. on Thursday, the organizing committee had yet
to complete the registration of eligible voters. The vote on the
chief of the law-making body would begin only after the
registration process was completed.
The same procedure will apply to the election of the new NU
chairman, who will replace Abdurrahman Wahid, the current
President.
Representatives of 305 regional branches and 26 provincial
chapters will cast their ballots to select two candidates for
each of the top posts.
An official, Rozy Munir, said the committee also decided to
postpone the schedule for the elections from 12 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
on the same day to give candidates a chance to lobby each other.
To make matters worse, voter registration began 30 minutes later
than scheduled.
According to NU's statutes, a candidate for the chairmanship
needs approval from the elected Rois Aam Syuriah.
Hasyim Muzadi, the former chairman of NU's East Java chapter,
Said Aqiel Siradj, the former deputy secretary of NU's law-making
body and Mustofa Bisri of Central Java were touted as candidates
for the chairmanship.
Mustofa, who is also a renowned poet, refused to contest the
top executive post, but was nominated by the Jakarta chapter on
grounds that rivalry between Hasyim and Said could lead to a
split in the 35 million-strong organization.
All three candidates for the chairmanship were briefed by NU's
senior ulemas hours before they contested the election. Abdullah
Faqih, Ilyas Ruchyat, Turmudzi Badruddin, Imron Chamzah and Idris
Marzuki were among the ulemas attending the briefing.
In their statement, the ulemas said they called for the
meeting after hearing reports of money politics and the use of
unfair campaigns.
Said renewed his pledge to develop NU to become a democratic
and modern organization and make it a motor of democracy in the
country in the next five years.
"I want to adopt my predecessor's policy to keep the
organization on its socioreligious mission. I will bring changes
to the organization and work hard to produce intellectual santri
(scholars). It is of the greatest importance that the NU is able
to cooperate with other religious organizations to uphold
democracy," he said.
Hasyim said that despite the abundant work a chairman must
carry out, he promised to continue building pesantren (Islamic
boarding schools) in a bid to improve the quality of human
resources in the country.
Hasyim, the director of Al-Hikam Islamic boarding school in
nearby Malang, said he purchased a big plot of land behind the
University of Indonesia in Jakarta for his planned boarding
school for the university's students. (nur/rms)