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)