Ulemas move to preserve unity in NU and PPP

By Santi WE Soekanto

REMBANG, Central Java (JP): Eighty influential leaders from the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) decided against formally naming candidates for the upcoming election of the United Development Party (PPP).

Despite their initial inclination, the ulemas who met here on Sunday until the early hours of yesterday morning agreed not to give official endorsements for one of the three strongest candidates, in order to stop deepening rifts within NU.

Host of the meeting, K.H. Cholil Bisri, said picking certain names would only sow seeds of hostility.

"We made that decision not because the government forbids us to do so [choose a candidate], but because we're aware of the potential for conflicts," he told the press after the meeting.

Bisri, who was accompanied by one of the three candidates, Hamzah Haz, further explained that a "council" of nine Moslem leaders has been established and authorized to pick one name before the PPP congress in August.

Earlier, the most senior ulema, K.H. Syansuri Badlawi, had said that the name of the chosen candidate would be brought to President Soeharto's attention for approval.

When asked whether the ulemas would be disappointed if Soeharto rejected the candidate, Syansuri was quick to point out that ulemas must never feel frustrated. "If the President does not accept our candidate for PPP chairmanship, that's all right."

The council members are K.H. Cholil Bisri, K.H. Syansuri Badlawi, K.H. Nadhier Muhammad, K.H. Mursalim Ridho, K.H. Hasib Siradj, K.H. Arifin Khan, K.H. Nu'man Zein, K.H. Dimyati Rois and K.H. Syofiansyah.

According to Bisri, the council will also be responsible to "sell" its decision to all of the PPP branches in Indonesia's 27 provinces, as well as to the political supra-structure, "including to the President," he said.

The ulemas yesterday also agreed to move to stop growing conflicts and make amends with the other three factions in the party, which are the Muslimin Indonesia (MI), Perti and Permusi.

Meetings with leaders of the other factions, which in 1972 fused with NU to form the party, have already been planned, according to some ulemas.

NU is by far the largest of the four factions, but the leadership has always gone to MI, which has counted the support of the government. Recently, the relationships among the factions have been strained, especially after NU made clear its intention to wrest the helm position of the party from MI.

The meeting of the ulemas was marked with differences of opinions among the participants about the candidacy. A number of ulemas whom The Jakarta Post talked to have indeed given conflicting views about the candidacy.

A kyai (ulema who leads a pesantren Islamic boarding) from West Java said many of his colleagues want the organization to pick PPP Secretary General Mathori Abdul Djalil as NU's candidate.

Others chose Hamzah Haz, chairman of the PPP faction in the House of Representatives, or Karmani, chairman of PPP branch in East Java.

A source at the meeting said the significance of the meeting rested not so much with the question of whether NU will be able to lead PPP, but more on the ulemas' wishes to be given larger roles in the domestic political arena.

Out of dissatisfaction with the existing venues such as the government-sanctioned Indonesian Council of Ulemas (MUI) and the powerful Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI), the ulemas moved to make "more contributions to the nation," as one kyai put it.

The opening by President Soeharto of a recent congress of the association of NU pesantren was taken by some ulemas as a green light from the government for their more political involvement.

The kyai, who have been standing in the political sideline for decades, responded to the favorable development by yesterday declaring their readiness to be more involved in the nation's future progress.

On a more practical side, Syansuri Badlawi showed the ulemas' stance by leading them to offer prayers that God will give President Soeharto a khusnul khotimah, which literally means "a good ending."

"The concept of the limitation of officials' tenure came from the Western countries. It's not an Islamic concept," Syansuri said. "As long as a leader is still just, he can go on leading."