NU members to rally for Gus Dur
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)