Ulemas facing rising temptation to join with PDI

JAKARTA (JP): Moslem ulemas who opposed the re-election of the United Development Party's Ismail Hasan Metareum are becoming increasingly tempted to shift their support to the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).

Yesterday, the Indonesian Moslems Assembly (MMI), a mass organization affiliated with PDI, said it plans to invite top ulemas Alawy Muhammad and Abdurrahman Wahid to its congress later this month.

Alawy, an influential ulema from Madura, has become a symbol of the ulemas' opposition to Ismail Hasan's re-election as party chairman at the Sept. 1 party congress. He has openly announced his wish to quit PPP and move to PDI.

Abdurrahman is the chairman of the 135 million member Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), which wants to see Ismail Hasan from the Muslimin Indonesia faction replaced by an NU figure.

"We will invite a lot more ulemas to the congress," MMI chairman H.W. Salamun told journalists. He added the congress would not be used to lure ulemas into joining PDI.

Under the leadership of the late president Sukarno's eldest daughter Megawati Soekarnoputri, PDI has aggressively tried to lure disgruntled PPP ulemas into its fold.

The three-day MMI congress to be opened by Vice President Try Sutrisno on Sept. 26 will discuss programs which focus on alleviating poverty.

Apparent support for the ulemas' threat to join with PDI came from Sri Bintang Pamungkas, an outspoken legislator who failed in his bid to oust Ismail Hasan during the leadership election.

He said the ulemas wanted to quit PPP because the party had bowed to the government's will and failed to accommodate their voices.

"It's not democratic and would be counterproductive," he said commenting on reports that the military has tried to make Alawy reconsider his plan to join with PDI.

Not all dissatisfied ulemas receive the support of their fellow scholars. Senior ulemas from four regencies on Madura island, for instance, plan to present a petition asking Alawy to drop his plan.

On a separate occasion, Abdurrahman Wahid advised ulemas to stop making an issue of the new PPP leadership because they can vote for Golkar or PDI in future elections.

"Why should we be dissatisfied if we are consistent with our 1984 policy to organizationally withdraw from formal politics," he said.

Disgruntled ulemas have been maneuvering to demonstrate their opposition to the PPP's new leadership. Last week, ulemas in East Java went as far as considering the establishment of their own political party.

The initiative, which has drawn mixed reactions from PPP activists, came from three of NU's most influential scholars: Yusuf Hasyim, Alawy and Syansuri Badawi.

"A new party is needed to accommodate the growing number of people who refused to join the existing three political organizations," Yusuf said.

The three, who have become the standard bearers in the ulemas' rejection of the PPP's new chairman, got the idea in a meeting in the East Java Moslem stronghold of Jombang last Friday. They appointed nine ulemas to decide whether the ulemas would accept or reject Ismail Hasan's appointment of three NU leaders as members of the PPP's advisory board.

Indonesia currently sanctions three political organizations: PPP, the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) and Golkar as stipulated in the 1985 law on political and mass organizations. (pan/har/bsr)