NU silent on 'bughot' meeting

NU silent on 'bughot' meeting

SUKABUMI, West Java (JP): Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama
(NU) Syuriah (law-making body) failed on Wednesday to reveal the
result of its meeting on the use of bughot (rebellion) for those
who want to unseat President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid.

In a media briefing following the meeting, Azis Mashuri,
chairman of the association of NU boarding schools (pesantren),
said that the result of the bughot meeting will provide input for
the NU plenary meeting scheduled to take place in Cilegon,
Banten, from April 13 to 15. The statements disappointed many who
had been expecting a firm decision from the meeting.

Deputy secretary general of NU central board Masduki Baidlawi,
one of NU's deputy chairmen, Andi Jamaro, and chairman of the
East Java NU law-making body Masduki Mahfud were also present in
the media conference.

Leading members of the 40 million-member NU were gathering
here, some 110 kilometers south of Jakarta, to discuss actions
against the move to oust the President.

Reliable sources said that the bughot meeting discussed three
main issues; the legality of Abdurrahman Wahid's election as
President in 1999, the necessary response to the waves of
demonstrations held by opposition to Abdurrahman, and the
response to actions that are undermining the government.

Earlier, NU's Joint Command (Komando Bersama) announced in
Sukabumi that it had trained at least 50,000 people who were
ready to go to Jakarta to defend the President, should the House
of Representatives (DPR) issue a second memorandum of censure
against the President in early May.

The joint command consists of youth wing organizations,
including Ansor, Garda Bangsa, Association of NU Youths and
Students, and the Indonesian Islamic Students Movement (PMII).

Earlier in Jakarta, President Abdurrahman Wahid condemned his
die-hard supporters' threats to launch an Islamic holy war or
jihad against moves to unseat him, an aide said.

"The President completely disagrees with the extreme measures
that some people are calling for in his defense," presidential
spokesman Adhi Massardi told reporters at the Merdeka Palace on
Wednesday.

He said Abdurrahman had ordered police to prevent his
supporters from taking radical action.

Abdurrahman is currently locked in a bitter political struggle
with the House over his erratic leadership style and alleged
involvement in corruption.

He has denied any wrongdoing and has flatly rejected demands
that he quit.

Earlier, Minister of Defense Mahfud M.D. said the government
was preparing for violence as Abdurrahman's supporters vowed to
resist mounting calls for him to resign.

"The President hopes that the willingness to prevent conflict
will come from all sides, including the DPR," the minister added,
after a breakfast meeting with Abdurrahman, Vice President
Megawati Soekarnoputri and top military and police brass.

Later in the day, Mahfud said in Bandung that the Sukabumi
meeting could become a potential political burden to the nation.

"The political burden could be eliminated if all members of
the political elite refrained from making (political) statements,
which provoke their rivals," he told reporters after attending
the handing over of an NB 105 helicopter from aircraft
manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia to the Indonesian Navy on
Wednesday.

Meanwhile, M. Darwis, a sociologist at the Hasanuddin
University in Makassar, South Sulawesi, blasted the NU ulemas'
move saying that it would further distance NU from its main
(religious and social) course.

"Plans to declare Gus Dur's political foes as bughot is a
setback," Darwis, who is also a political observer, commented.
He said he was very surprised that NU would take such a move
(over bughot) when the President was an NU man.

Abdurrahman had chaired NU for 15 years.

"In the past, when Soeharto was president, all his opponents
were netted by laws on subversion. Now the term bughot will be
used as justification by Gus Dur's determined defenders to do
anything."

Abdurrahman should prevent the ulemas from such a digression,
Darwis said.

Rejection against NU's plan over bughot and the jihad
resolution was also voiced by Cholil Bisri, a senior figure of
NU, as well as an aide to President Abdurrahman.

Cholil, who is also a member of the House of Representatives
(DPR) and of the National Awakening Party (PKB), said in Rembang,
"I strongly reject the idea."

"It is unacceptable that there are those who are willing to
fight to the end for Abdurrahman. If NU members want to conduct a
jihad, why don't they fight against national disintegration,
poverty and stupidity," Cholil said.

"If anybody against Gus Dur is called bughot, then those
opposing any leaders in the future will receive similar
treatment."

Speaking about the (political) meeting of 200 ulemas at his
pesantren (Islamic boarding school) in Rembang on Tuesday
evening, Cholil said that the result of the meeting would be
submitted to anybody, including Gus Dur, Megawati, speaker of
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Amien Rais and DPR speaker
Akbar Tandjung. (02/byg/25/27/har/sur)