Yusuf Hasyim leaves Nahdlatul Ulama post

Yusuf Hasyim leaves Nahdlatul Ulama post

JAKARTA (JP): Influential Moslem scholar Yusuf Hasyim
announced yesterday he has resigned from the advisory board of
the 28 million-member Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).

Hasyim said he resigned because the present executive board
was formed "in a manner that deviates from NU tradition", which
only worsens conflict within Indonesia's largest Moslem
organization.

Hasyim, who runs a respected Islamic boarding school in the
East Java town of Jombang, was elected a member of the advisory
board only last month.

Often considered a controversial figure, he is an uncle of NU
chairman Abdurrahman Wahid. Abdurrahman was re-elected for a
third term in an NU congress last month.

In a statement made available to the press, Hasyim said that
the electoral board failed to select members of the current NU
board of executives unanimously.

"The (electoral board's) decision has provoked protests from
some quarters," he said.

Hasyim, who was a former member of the House of
Representatives, said he also decided to resign because
Abdurrahman faces slander charges for accusing his political foe,
Abu Hasan, of accepting a kickback of US$18 million from
Jakarta's Tanjung Priok port development.

He said he could not imagine how an NU chairman would stand
trial for slandering another NU member, with other senior leaders
of the organization having to give their testimony.

Abu, Abdurrahman's number one contender in last month's race
for the NU chair, filed a complaint with the police on Tuesday
that the chair's accusation amounted to slander and he requested
that the authorities investigate it.

Hasyim has submitted his tender for retirement to the NU board
of executives, Antara reported yesterday.

Bickering within NU, a socio-religious organization
established in 1926, worsened after the defeated Abu set up a
rival executive board. (pan)