NU members to rally for Gus Dur

JAKARTA (JP): After being prohibited from directly airing their support for President Abdurrahman Wahid here in Jakarta, members of the East Java chapter of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Muslim organization will channel their aspiration to all 37 East Java regency legislative councils on Wednesday, an official said on Tuesday.

Chairman of the NU's East Java chapter Ali Maschan Moesa said some 100,000 NU members would attend Istighotsah (mass prayer) meetings and deliver their statements of support to the respective regency-level councillors stating that Abdurrahman should stay on as president until 2004.

"We'll hold mass prayer meetings so that all the members of the political elite will create a conducive atmosphere in the country so that it can survive the ongoing crisis, and that they will remember that the President was elected for a five-year term," Ali told The Jakarta Post by phone.

"NU members and supporters have urged us to organize the gathering because they are eager to show their support for the President as they have seen that anti-Abdurrahman rallies are taking place everyday," he said.

Traffic was smooth in the capital, while some schools in Central Jakarta and a few others in South Jakarta were closed on Monday following rumors of mass demonstrations by both the supporters and opponents of the President.

However, the much-predicted demonstrations failed to materialize as Monday passed without a single major rally being held in the capital.

Ali further said that the mass prayers would be conducted at 37 regency legislative councils across the province and guaranteed that the gatherings would be peaceful.

"They will come in sarongs just like when they are going to attend Friday prayers. So, I guarantee that nothing violent will happen tomorrow (Wednesday)," Ali said.

He further said that the NU had not planned the gatherings nor would they use them as "compensation" for their failure to flood the capital with supporters on Monday. Rather, the gatherings were being held because the people had asked for a forum so that they could channel their aspirations.

"It has been decided by the NU's executive board that people should channel their aspirations through the councils and that's what we are going to do tomorrow," Ali asserted.

He noted that the NU had informed the local authorities of the planned mass gatherings.

He said that the gatherings, which would also be attended by non-NU members, would be organized by a group called the Society of National Defenders (MPB). (dja)