NU members incited to violence: Gus Dur

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)