Youth body plans to sever ties with Nahdlatul Ulama

JAKARTA (JP): Nahdlatul Ulama, already plagued with dissension, may lose the support of a Moslem youth organization, which is considering breaking away.

Ansor secretary-general, Saifullah Ma'shum, told the Antara news agency yesterday that the plan would be discussed in Ansor's congress, which is scheduled for September in Palembang, South Sumatra.

He said the idea came from the organization's activists. "The leaders of this organization, however, have not thought about it at all."

On a separate occasion, Ansor chairman Slamet Effendy Yusuf said that the plan was too hasty. He said that the proposal may have been made by activists, to serve their personal interests.

"Frankly, we need to study the idea further and find out what's behind it. We should remain watchful," Slamet said.

Slamet is a legislator representing the ruling Golkar party and was once an activist of the Moslem-oriented United Development Party. He has high profile activities both in Golkar and Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).

Saifullah declined to name specific reasons why Ansor wants to break away from the NU, which claims to have about 30 million members. But he expressed concern that some leading members of NU are still embroiled in internal conflicts.

These ongoing conflicts continue to be detrimental to the millions of NU followers, mostly in rural areas, he said.

Because of the rift involving NU chairman Abdurrahman Wahid and his arch rival Abu Hasan, the issue of empowerment of members has been neglected, Saifullah said.

This alienates NU from contemporary development in society, he said. "Only by seriously paying attention to the interests of its followers can NU really stay away from politics, as it pledges to," he said.

"This is why Ansor wants to be independent. It's the interests of members which is important," Saifullah said.

Ansor was established in 1934 in Surabaya, East Java. Its members are people aged between 15 and 45 years. (swe)