Soeharto, Gus Dur's meeting hailed
PROBOLINGGO (JP): Political observers have welcomed the warmth of the first encounter between President Soeharto and Abdurrahman Wahid since the latter was re-elected chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Moslem organization in 1994.
"This should end the speculation that had been growing over the past two years as to the nature of the relationship between President Soeharto and Abdurrahman," Amien Rais, a political observer at Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University, told The Jakarta Post over the phone yesterday.
"It's a display of wisdom. The way I see it, the psychological wall, if there is one, separating the two all these years has now been torn down," said Amien who is chairman of the 28-million strong Muhammadiyah Moslem organization.
"It should end the mystery surrounding the relationship between the two," said Arbi Sanit of the University of Indonesia. He described the encounter as "the ultimate symbol of the intimacy that Moslems enjoy with the government."
The meeting of the two leaders took place on Saturday when Soeharto opened a meeting of Rabithah Ma'ahid Islamiyah, an association of NU boarding schools in Probolinggo, East Java, about 100 kilometers west of Situbondo, where religious tension erupted into violence on Oct. 10.
Abdurrahman, affectionately known as Gus Dur, greeted Soeharto in front of about 1,500 NU ulemas from all over Indonesia.
The two shook hands warmly. Soeharto then greeted the other ulemas before suddenly approaching Abdurrahman again. The two then walked hand in hand for some 30 meters from the gate toward the place where the opening ceremony was to be held.
"Holding hands is nothing extraordinary. He knows I can't see very well. He knows my condition," said Abdurrahman, who wears thick glasses with a strength of 13, and has cataracts.
After the ceremony, Abdurrahman told reporters that Soeharto's attendance proved the end of tension between his organization and the government, or between him and Soeharto.
"President Soeharto's presence here should prove that the tension is now over," he said, but did not elaborate.
He denied that communication between the organization and the government had been "frozen". "That's just an impression," he said. "All this time, the messages from NU leaders reached Pak Harto, while the President's messages have also always reached us.
"I have always followed his wishes. We respect one another," he said.
Also on Saturday, Soeharto met with 25 other senior ulemas of NU. When asked whether the meeting had any political significance, Abdurrahman said: "No."
Abdurrahman has not been granted an audience at the presidential palace, a tradition for newly elected or re-elected leaders of major organizations, since he was re-elected NU chairman in Dec. 1994. There had been speculation then that the government disliked Abdurrahman, who is known for his sharp criticism of many government policies.
Abdurrahman himself has often downplayed the fact that he had not been invited to the palace to meet Soeharto.
On Saturday, Abdurrahman declined when asked whether such a meeting was now forthcoming. "That would be too late. It's been too long since I was re-elected. I think Pak Harto's speech was a good sign already," he said.
Soeharto was on Saturday accompanied by Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono and Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher.
At the end of the opening ceremony, chairman of NU law-making body Syuriyah K.H. Ilyas Ruchiyat led the assembled in a prayer that Allah give President Soeharto the physical and spiritual strength to lead the nation "today and in the future".
The ulemas greeted the prayer with loud applause. (15/26)
Habibie -- Page 2