NU members incited to violence: Gus Dur

JAKARTA (JP): Abdurrahman Wahid, the chairman of the 30 million-strong Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Moslem organization, said yesterday his members had been repeatedly provoked to get involved in election campaign riots.

"Some parties tried to provoke NU members because they wanted to foil the election and discredit NU," Abdurrahman said.

He refused to say who had provoked his members but promised to name them after the May 29 election.

"Some of the riots were rigged as could be seen by the molotov coctails hurled at some NU-based regions in order to provoke the members' anger," he said.

NU members had also received provocative letters via the Internet, he said.

Abdurrahman, better known as Gus Dur, cited the riots in Surabaya in East Java, Ujungpandang in South Sulawesi and in Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan.

He said the campaign violence had nothing to do with pre- campaign unrest.

He called on NU members not to be incited by any further provocation and said national unity was the most important factor for the country's continued development.

"NU members should remain calm and continue with their daily activities," he said, adding that they should vote in the election.

He called on the government to work hard and make the election a success.

"No matter what happens, the general election must go on as planned," he said.

Abdurrahman said recent violence was because of an accumulation of pent-up frustration over the block in communication between the government and the people.

The situation had been worsening because of the government's rigidity in dealing with different opinions on its development program, he said.

The government treated anyone voicing opposition to its development programs as enemies, he said.

He cited the labeling of anyone opposing the government as members of the unrecognized Democratic People's Party (PRD) or the outlawed Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

"Those who have different opinion are accused of being PKI members," he said.

Coalition

Abdurrahman denied that some of the unrest before and during the campaign was because of people's dissatisfaction over his close relationship with President Soeharto's eldest daughter, Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana.

"We (Abdurrahman and Hardiyanti) have never been to the regions where the riots took place," he said.

Abdurrahman and Hardiyanti, who is a Golkar leader, have appeared together in public in several cities in Java, triggering speculation of a new political alliance.

Abdurrahmannce took Hardiyanti to meet 10,000 NU members in Sidoarjo, 25 kilometers south of the East Java capital of Surabaya.

He also introduced her to members in Semarang.

In the past two years, Abdurrahman was thought to have formed a political alliance with Megawati Soekarnoputri, the ousted leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI). When he started to display a closeness with Hardiyanti, some speculated that he had abandoned Megawati.

Hardiyanti was assigned the task of cultivating political support for Golkar in Central and East Java.

NU, Indonesia's largest socioeducational organization and once a powerful political party, has shunned politics but given its members the freedom to affiliate with any of the three parties -- Golkar, the United Development Party and the PDI. (imn)