Wiranto rejects backing for him to lead the nation

JOMBANG, East Java (JP): Minister of Defense and Security/Armed Forces (ABRI) Commander Gen. Wiranto yesterday gently declined some highly influential East Javan religious teachers' support for him to lead the nation.

Attending a celebration commemorating the 160th anniversary of the Bahrul Ulm Islamic boarding school here, Wiranto dismissed speculation that he had ambitions to one day become the head of state.

"I am one of the leaders of the nation already," he told a discussion with 400 religious teachers from East Java who packed the boarding school's central parking lot.

"If you want to express your support for me, just pray to God so that I can successfully fulfill all my duties," he said.

Expressions of support for Wiranto's promotion came from both the host and the participants. The preachers are traditionally very influential individuals as they are regarded as both community and religious role models.

Hasib Abdul Wahab, chairman of the Bahrul Ulum foundation, which runs the 7,000-student school, was one of the first to express his praise for Wiranto.

"I think he (Wiranto) fits well as to what we need to become the nation's future leader," Hasib said, in his address to the opening ceremony.

Stronger support came from Badli Masduqi, a religious teacher from the Probolinggo district.

"If the nation does not have other candidates, Wiranto is the one," Badli said.

Habib, a teacher from Surabaya, suggested Wiranto should become the leader of the reform movement.

"The Armed Forces commander should become the number one person for legal and political reform in the country," he said.

Bahrul Ulum is one of the four biggest Islamic boarding schools in the town of Jombang, a one-and-a-half hour drive from the East Java provincial capital of Surabaya. It is known for its many prominent figures who have made their names on the country's political stage.

One of these was K.H. Wahab Hasbullah, who established the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Moslem organization in 1926, together with K.H. Hasyim Asy'ari. Hasyim was the grandfather of current NU chairman Abdurrahman Wahid.

Wahab's father, K.H. Wahid Wahab, was minister of civilian- military relations and then minister of religious affairs in the early 1950s.

The discussion, dominated by NU members, was not attended by Abdurrahman, who is also a Jombang native.

"Gus Dur (Abdurrahman's popular name) was not invited to the discussion," Choirul Anam, chairman of the East Java chapter of the Anshor Youth Movement, a NU youth wing, told The Jakarta Post.

He did not explain why Abdurrahman, who now lives in Jakarta, was not invited.

Addressing the participants, Wiranto called on the religious teachers to be at the front line of the reform movement.

"ABRI notes that teachers and leaders of Moslem organizations are figures who have the authority and both cultural and spiritual legitimacy to persuade and ask the Islamic community to join hands for reform," he said.

"And I believe teachers will not further any political interests through their activities," he added. (imn)