Rival NU leader announces his executive board
Rival NU leader announces his executive board
JAKARTA (JP): Undeterred by remarks from senior government officials, who insist that his election as NU chairman last week is illegitimate, Abu Hasan announced the lineup of his executive board yesterday.
Fulfilling the promise he made shortly after being elected chairman at the NU congress he organized last week, Abu announced the complete list of his board.
Last week's congress also named Abdul Hamid Baidhowi as chief of the Syuriah, NU's highest law-making body.
Beside reaffirming their own selection, the five-member electoral committee -- chaired by Abu -- named the personnel in its nine-member advisory council.
Abu, a businessman who narrowly lost the chairmanship race to Abdurrahman Wahid at the official NU congress in December 1994, will be seconded by 10 deputies.
Baidhowi, whose law-making body is structurally the most powerful, has seven deputies -- all preachers well-known in their respective hometowns.
The Jan. 17 congress, attended by about 500 rebel NU activists, drew the wrath of Abdurrahman Wahid, the legitimate NU chairman. He has threatened to punish the rebels.
The congress also sparked widespread criticism of the government for doing nothing to stop it. Some senior officials assured Abdurrahman's leadership would be publicly recognized.
The electoral board's decree stated that the new executive board was a "correction" of Abdurrahman's leadership.
Meanwhile, the debate among Moslem leaders over the government's offer to mediate in the Abu-Abdurrahman leadership conflict continued to rage yesterday.
Amien Rais, who chairs Muhammadiyah -- a reformist Islamic group that focuses on education -- argued that government mediation is not what NU needs.
"The best solution would be to let NU members solve the problem. They know what to do," he told journalists in the Central Java capital of Semarang.
The offer of arbitration was made by Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher last week.
Amien said that intervention by a third party would only delay a solution to the problem plaguing the 70-year-old NU. The organization claims to have 30 million members nationwide.
"As an old organization, NU should have leaders mature enough to seek the most sensible way to end the rift," said the expert in Middle East Affairs at Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University.
Noer Iskandar Albarsany, a member of Abdurrahman's law-making body, urged punitive action against Abu Hasan and his supporters.
The rebels should be stripped of their positions in the legal NU board and then fired from the organization for good, said the respected Moslem preacher from Central Java.
Their big sin, Noer said, was to hold the congress and set up the rival board.
"Before leaving for Jakarta (to attend the congress), some activists told me on the phone they just wanted to attend an informal get-together. I was truly dismayed to hear that the gathering changed into an extraordinary meeting," Noer said.
According to Noer, NU members across the country are anxious to see Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M. keep his word and punish Abu Hasan.
"I hope the minister will put what he has said into practice. I was relieved when he agreed that what Abu Hasan did was illegal," Noer said.
He warned that failure will put the government's credibility at risk and deepen the internal conflict.
The Jakarta-based Communication Forum for the NU Young Generation has publicly pledged its support of Abdurrahman.
Forum coordinator Amsal Dulmanan said the internal conflict is owing to the political elite jostling for position before the 1998 change in national leadership.
Kahar Badjuri, a political observer form Semarang's Diponegoro University, defended Noer's statement. "The public is anxious to see the government punish rival NU activists." (pan/har)