Jakarta – Abdurrahman Wahid, Amien Rais, Nur Mahmudi Ismail and Hamzah Haz agreed on Saturday that Islam bars women from becoming heads of state, delivering the heaviest blow yet to Megawati Soekarnoputri's presidential bid.
The four politicians – respectively the founder of the National Awakening Party (PKB), the chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN), the president of the Justice Party (PK) and chairman of the United Development Party (PPP) – acknowledged for the first time that the predominately Muslim country may not be ready to accept a woman president. The four men had never previously mentioned that Megawati, whose party the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) now looks set to win largest share of the vote in the polls, might not be accepted by some Muslim elements.
Abdurrahman, the chairman of Indonesia's largest Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), visited Amien Rais at the office of Muhammadiyah, which Amien used to chair. The two leaders then agreed that both organizations respected an Islamic ruling that women cannot become heads of state.
Shortly afterward, Nur Mahmudi visited Amien, while Abdurrahman met with Hamzah Haz at the Nahdlatul Ulama headquarters, according to Antara.
"If Megawati was elected [president], the Islamic movement would not accept her, but if she's not elected, there's no guarantee the situation would be better," Abdurrahman said after meeting with Hamzah. "It's really a dilemma. Which is why we held those consultations to seek a solution.
"The meetings are for consultations regarding the post-election situation, where a new configuration is emerging after Megawati's party looks set to win," he said.
Amien said Indonesia was being divided into two camps, one supporting Megawati and the other supporting incumbent President B.J. Habibie.
"There's this image that if Megawati is elected [people] will rebel, and if Habibie is elected, there will also be rebellion. We should find a way out of this dilemma. I see Gus Dur as standing outside of this polarization, which is why we held that consultation," Amien said. Nur Mahmudi supported Amien's statement.
Separately, at a press briefing with Hamzah, Abdurrahman said he personally supported Megawati for the top job, but that he must answer to Nahdlatul Ulama ulemas, many of whom still abide by Islamic rules that a woman cannot become president.
"Personally, I think it's possible for Megawati to be elected, but regarding questions about her ability to govern, that's another matter."
Abdurrahman once supported suggestions that Soeharto's eldest daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana succeed her father to the presidency.
Abdurrahman has long been known as Megawati's closest ally and even her mentor, but after a meeting last week with Habibie, he hinted that support for Megawati might no longer be forthcoming, because he could not guarantee that ulemas would accept her presidency.
"If Megawati is elected, the United Development Party (PPP) would not agree to join the administration," he said. However, Abdurrahman promised on Saturday to seek a "win-win solution".
When asked whether the meetings also discussed the possibility of an alternative presidential candidate, Abdurrahman said: "That is confidential. I must not talk, or everything will fail."
When journalists suggested the possibility of naming a military man as the next president, Abdurrahman said: "Let's hope not."
Despite Abdurrahman's statement that ulemas did not support Megawati's presidency, so far there has been no unified stance among Muslim clerics. Some 200 ulemas in East Java, for instance, recently aired their reluctance for a woman president. But on Saturday, in the Central Java town of Rembang, an open gathering of the Forum of National Pesantren Ulema stated they would accept whoever was elected to the position.
Attended by some 100 ulemas, the forum said "in the event of a difficult political decision, we should seek a choice with the least disadvantage".
The nominated president would be accepted "as long as [the decision] was for the good of the nation and as long as the president was elected by the peoples' representatives".
Central Java was one of the key provinces where political parties fiercely competed for Muslim votes. In provisional results of the poll tallies, PDI Perjuangan won in the province.
The Muslim clerics stated that in regard to the presidential election they would look to "prioritize avoiding risks and the threat of a greater loss", and in this context the forum said gender was not an issue.
The forum was initiated by Nahdlatul Ulama leaders, including Cholil Bisri and Mustafa Bisri. Attendants included ulema from Java, Madura, Bali and Sumatra. Prominent clerics were Hasyim Muzadi, who chairs East Java's NU branch, Amien Makruf of Jakarta and Mbah (Grandfather) Lim from Klaten, who was once described as Abdurrahman's spiritual advisor.
The ulema called on all Indonesians to support "total reform and political democratization, and show that support by expressing a more mature attitude" in politics and as citizens. Calls based on religion to support political interests were farcical, the forum said.
Mustafa told The Jakarta Post the struggle for power "has drowned the most basic goal of the reform movement, which is to reach democracy ... and to save the people from the muddy hole of trouble gripping almost all spheres of life".
As of 8:30pm Saturday the PDI Perjuangan was leading with 22.67 million votes. Golkar came a far second with 11.85 million and PKB third with 11.04 million.
As of 5 pm PDI Perjuangan had earned 67 seats in the House of Representatives and Golkar had gained 33 seats. PKB won 32 seats and PPP had 14. Others had not reached the threshold of 2 percent of the 462 contested seats.
On Friday in Semarang, PPP announced it had ruled out the possibility of forming a coalition with any of the major parties – front-runner PDI Perjuangan, PKB, PAN or Golkar. A PPP leader, Karmani, said PPP would be better off playing the role of a "strategic opposition".