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)