Jakarta – The National Awakening Party (PKB) says it can't ban thousands of East Java Muslims from coming to Jakarta to stage rallies in support of embattled President Abdurrahman Gus Dur Wahid.
All that we can do is to persuade them not to be easily provoked by anti-Gus Dur groups. We have no power to ban them, PKB Secretary General Muhaimin Iskandar told the press in Jakarta yesterday.
Muhaimin, a loyalist of Gus Dur, said he sees no constitutional basis for the president to be ousted. Therefore, he added, the Muslim masses from East Java need not respond emotionally to taunts and acts of provocation.
More than 200,000 members of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Muslim organization in East Java will next week leave for Jakarta to counter a huge anti-Gus Dur rally scheduled for January 15.
Muhaimin, who is also deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, said anti-Wahid statements made by the political elite are normal in the democratization process.
But he warned that certain groups may attempt to manipulate the public to create internal conflicts. He suggested that all political groups must be aware of this that possibility.
Muhaimin said mobilizing the masses for the sake of political goals is all right, as long as the constitution is upheld. The NU is planning to come to the defense of Wahid following rumors of the huge protest that will take place in Jakarta on January 15.
The NU youth wing, Ansor, claims hundreds of thousands of its cadres from East Java are ready to be deployed to Jakarta to uphold the constitution and support Gus Dur.
East Java Ansor Secretary Chusnul Huda on Tuesday said in Surabaya city that at least 215,000 members of Banser the NUs security force want to go to Jakarta to counter the anti-Wahid movement. January 15 is the anniversary of the so-called Malari incident of 1974, which involved massive street demonstrations by student protesters against the corrupt regime of then president Soeharto.
Elements of the military allegedly encouraged the students to transform the demonstration into an anti-Japan protest.
Rumor has it that Wahids opponents many of whom are connected to the Soeharto regime will use the anniversary of the Malari incident to demand the removal of Gus Dur. Huda said Banser will do its best to keep Gus Dur in power, as his term in office is not due to finish until 2004.