Ulemas to proceed with Rembang gathering

Ulemas to proceed with Rembang gathering

JAKARTA (JP): Moslem leaders will go ahead with their
controversial gathering in Rembang, Central Java, later this
month to discuss the future of the Moslem-oriented United
Development Party (PPP).

They have already braved accusations that the political
gathering would represent inconsistency in their commitment not
to be engaged in practical politics. Critics also worry that the
meeting would only deepen conflict within PPP.

Hamzah Haz, the spokesman for the ulemas grouped in Nahdlatul
Ulama (NU), said yesterday there was no reason to cancel the plan
and the organizing committee has worked the final details of the
gathering.

He assured critics that the ulemas would not choose their
candidates for the new chairman of PPP, which will elect its new
leadership in the upcoming party congress in August.

The planned Rembang gathering has sparked rows among senior
ulemas who want to snatch the dominant role of Muslimin Indonesia
(MI) politicians in PPP.

Among those who have threatened to boycott the Rembang meeting
is K.H. Yusuf Hasyim, an NU functionary and influential ulema
from East Java.

PPP is a merging of four Islamic parties: NU, MI, Perti and
PSII. NU is the largest Moslem organization with 34 million loyal
members, mostly in rural areas.

Ulemas from PPP yesterday met with the chief of socio-
political affairs of the Armed Forces (ABRI), Lt. Gen. R.
Hartono, to discuss preparations of the Rembang meeting scheduled
for June 26.

ABRI Chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung has endorsed the planned
Rembang gathering. Last week, he visited an ulema meeting in
Jombang, East Java, in an apparent gesture of sympathy to the
religious leaders' course.

Hamzah, a PPP deputy chairman who heads the party's faction in
the House of Representatives (DPR), said the Rembang gathering
would be informal where ulemas would contribute their ideas on
how to develop PPP. "Discussing the future leadership of PPP
would only worsen the controversy," said Hamzah, who is tipped to
run for party's top slot.

Support

Hamzah denied press reports that NU would also nominate Matori
Abdul Djalil, the incumbent PPP secretary general, and Karmani, a
PPP councilor in Semarang, Central Java, for the PPP
chairmanship.

As politicians are busy jockeying for positions in the
upcoming congress, some PPP members have, facetiously, nominated
Gen. (ret.) Rudini - a former Home Affairs Minister and member of
the ruling Golkar political grouping.

"If I were named PPP chairman, I will 'Golkarize' the party,"
Rudini said with a big grin when journalists asked for his
comment on the proposal.

Rudini was proposed to run for PPP's top spot after he led a
mass prayer in the recent celebration of Moslem holiday Idul Adha
in Jakarta. "That was the first time I led a mass prayer," he
said.

Also yesterday, Antara reported that the PPP chapter of
Southeast Sulawesi has lent its support for the re-election of
the incumbent PPP chairman, Ismail Hasan Metareum.

Metareum is touring Sulawesi to garner support for his bid to
retain his post in the forthcoming congress. (pan)