NU dissenters to set up rival chapter board

NU dissenters to set up rival chapter board

SURABAYA (JP): Breakaway leaders in Indonesia's largest Moslem
organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) are preparing to establish a
rival chapter in East Java.

K.H. Hasib Wahab, the deputy chairman appointed to the rival
central board established last month, as well as an NU leader in
East Java, announced yesterday their plan to set up the new
chapter.

"East Java is the first priority," he told The Jakarta Post.
"Now we are opening registration for those who want to become
members."

The province has long been considered an NU stronghold.

Hasib, the kyai, or head, of the Bahrul Ulum Pesantren (an
Islamic boarding school), said his plan was in line with the
results of the extraordinary congress and a leadership meeting
that followed. Both events were organized by Abu Hasan, a leading
dissenter who lost the 1994 chairmanship race to incumbent
chairman Abdurrahman Wahid.

Hasib also declared his readiness to be the chairman of the
chapter's Tanfidziyah (executive board). He also named several
other NU leaders, including Arifin Khan, Much. Baidlowi, H. Nilam
and As'ad Umar, as prospective board members.

Hasib and the people he named are known to disagree with the
leadership of Abdurrahman Wahid, better known as Gus Dur.

Both Hasib and Abdurrahman have lineage -- an important factor
in the organization's leadership -- tracing back to NU's founding
fathers. Abdurrahman is the grandson of revered scholar K.H.
Hasyim Asy'ari, while Hasib is a son of Wahab Hasbullah who was
similarly respected.

Hasib and Yusuf Hasyim, an uncle of Abdurrahman Wahid,
established a communication forum last year for NU children,
known as FKPPNU, which campaigned against Abdurrahman.

Hasib said yesterday he will soon meet with East Java Governor
Basofi Sudirman for a "consultation". He also vowed to proceed
with the plan even if the governor, in his capacity as "the
patron of the regional political development", refused to "bless"
his move.

"We are only trying to do good, so why would anyone prevent us
from doing so?" he said.

H.M. Sholeh Hayat, an NU leader in Abdurrahman's camp,
expressed disbelief at Hasib's maneuver.

"He shouldn't try to awaken a sleeping tiger," he said. "This
rival chapter board won't get any support (from NU members
here)."

Sholeh said that most of Hasib's colleagues in the Bahrul Ulum
school have already pledged their allegiance toward Abdurrahman.

"Hasib is taking a great risk," Sholeh said. He accused Hasib
and his camp of overstepping boundaries and said that they should
be dismissed from the organization.

Sholeh, who is the chairman of NU's East Java chapter, also
criticized the government's ambiguous response to the rift in the
70-year-old organization.

The fact that Abu Hasan could hold a congress, establish a
rival central board and later hold a meeting is proof of the
government's unclear stance, he said.

Basofi also objected to the development.

"I'm fed up with all this rival leadership business," he said
on Tuesday. "I really don't understand why people love to do
these things."

Basofi has for the past several years had his hands full with
the infighting in the East Java chapter of the Indonesian
Democratic Party (PDI).

He also denied having received Hasib's request for a meeting.

Basofi added that if the dissenters come to see him, he'll
simply tell them to meet with NU leaders from Abdurrahman's camp
in the province. "This way they'll know for themselves how NU
members here feel about them," he said.(15/swe)