The NU stage play

The NU stage play

The final curtain has just come down on a political event which resembled a stage play -- the formation of a "Nahdatul Ulama Executive Board" (PBNU) led by Abu Hasan. The event resembled a stage play because the formation of the board occurred in a prearranged manner.

Quite possibly Abu Hasan may at this very moment be crowing and boasting about the attainment of his ambition, which is to establish a rival board to the one which already has the formal and legal recognition of the government -- the NU executive board led by Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur).

Consciously or otherwise, however, Abu Hasan has contributed to sowing a kind of confusion which has the potential of creating a rift among Indonesia's Moslems, particularly members of the NU.

From the beginning Abu Hasan had pushed the holding of a Grand Conference of KPPNU (the NU rival board). The fact that the government -- through statements from a number of officials such as Minister of Home Affairs Yogie S.M. and the Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. R. Hartono -- had made it clear that it only recognized the board led by Gus Dur did not faze him in the least. It is therefore quite natural for people to conclude that Abu Hasan made his move because he was enjoying support in the upper echelons of the country's political elite.

It is not impossible that Abu Hasan's actions will have an adverse effect on the political education of the people. This is because the action could become a bad precedent affecting the future growth of social-political organizations.

It is not impossible that in the future anyone who has lost a contest within an organization will establish a rival organization, ignoring the fact that winning and losing are logical parts of any kind of contest, including political contests.

If this is the case it can be imagined what is in store for this nation. Rift upon rift will occur. An even worse consequence might be the government's loss of credibility among the people.

-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta