Jakarta – The Ministry of Social Affairs has denied that it has decided to declare former President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid a national hero.

"Nothing has been decided so far," Minister Salim Segaf Al-Jufri said on Tuesday, responding to reports that Gus Dur will join the names of Indonesia's national heroes by Nov. 10 to coincide with National Heroes Day.

He said the decision was ultimately up to the award committee under the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs.

But officials might be hard-pressed to honor Gus Dur in time for this year's National Heroes Day, as Salim said his ministry would not be calling a meeting to make a recommendation to the committee until mid-November.

"We will consider the aspirations and hopes of the people and weigh all of the requirements," he said of the process for deciding candidates for national hero status.

On Monday, East Java's deputy governor, Syaifullah Yusuf, said he had received verbal notification from the Ministry of Social Affairs agreeing to declare the popular former president a national hero.

The provincial government said it was seeking national hero status for Gus Dur in response to widespread public demand to recognize his achievements in promoting pluralism.

"We are waiting for the president to sign the letter to be handed over in time for National Heroes Day," Syaifullah said when thanking the government for its prompt response.

There have been many calls for the government to grant Gus Dur the honor. However, his family has said it has not been notified by the government of the plan.

"Our family has never proposed anything to the government to honor Gus Dur in any form," his third daughter, Annita Hayatunnufus, told the Jakarta Globe on Monday.

"We did not ask the government to renovate his grave, nor did we ask for a national hero title." The family said it would wait for formal notification before responding to the proposal.

The provincial government is also planning to renovate the former president's burial site by widening the access road to allow more visitors.

About 8,000 visitors make their way to the tomb for weekend pilgrimages, with 4,000 more coming during the week, according to provincial government data.

Gus Dur was born in Jombang, East Java, and died at the age of 69 last December. He was educated in Indonesia, Egypt, Iraq and Canada, and was known as a champion of democracy and moderate Islam.

Gus Dur was Indonesia's fourth president and the first elected head of state after the fall of the Suharto regime in 1998.

Aside from his prominent political role, he was also a leader of Nahdlatul Ulama, a Muslim organization with about 40 million members. (Antara, JG)