Pandaya – Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid has painfully lost his grip on the National Awakening Party (PKB) to his less popular cousin Muhaimin Iskandar, following a bitter leadership rift that warranted Supreme Court intervention to end it last year.
The court's decision in favor of Muhaimin hurt Gus Dur's pride so badly that he has refused to be associated with the PKB, the country's seventh largest party, which has a stronghold East Java but is less popular in other islands.
Gus Dur, a former president famed for his legendary outbursts, never conceals his anger and frustration over the stunning legal loss. He says it is part of a Yudhoyono administration conspiracy to foil his bid for the presidency, something the President flatly denies.
Venting his frustration over the loss, he went as far as to call on his millions of supporters and loyalists to boycott this year's general elections. But he later backtracked, asking them to go to the polls and vote for the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), chaired by his old ally Megawati Soekarnoputri.
Very recently, he gave away ammunition to his critics when, again, he shifted his political support to Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subiyanto, a former son-in-law of Soeharto and a presidential aspirant from the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) Party. His opponents allege that his true motive is to trade in the support for a Cabinet post for his daughter Yenny Wahid, should Prabowo win the race.
Considered Gus Dur's mouthpiece, Yenny appeared at a Gerindra rally in Sidoarjo, East Java, on March 17, but she persistently denies a Cabinet post is part of her agenda. She says her camp's alliance with the PDI-P and Gerindra applies by region and not nationwide.
Gus Dur reportedly went ballistic and threatened legal action after Muhaimin mentioned his name at a campaign rally in Surabaya. Ironically, Muhaimin told the crowd how he admired Gus Dur as a charismatic leader.
The fate of the PKB in the upcoming elections is a hot topic in political discussions, with most pundits casting doubt on whether, without Gus Dur, the "Muslim-nationalist" party will be able to maintain its current 54 (or 11 percent) of House of Representative seats. Muhaimin has set a higher target for this year's elections, up to 15 percent.
Until the 2004 elections, the PKB counted on traditional Muslims in East Java for support, just like Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) – the country's second largest Muslim organization, which spearheaded the party's founding. Significant support also came from traditional Muslims in Central Java.
Gus Dur, who became the PKB's paramount leader and chaired its powerful board of patrons, hails from the East Java religious school town of Jombang, and among his admirers, he is akin to wali – the revered propagators of Islam when it was first introduced to Java between 16th and 17th centuries.
So formidable was his clout in the PKB that the party was akin to Gus Dur. His loyal supporters would hang on his every word, although some conservatives turned their backs on him because they considered his stand on key religious issues just "too liberal".
Other more conservative clerics founded their own parties, including the Ulema National Awakening Party (PKNU), which has never managed to pass the electoral threshold to get a House seat.
Relying on charisma, Gus Dur has passed down a legacy of poor party management – one that is overly paternalistic and family-oriented. He won't listen to other people's ideas, says M. Hikam, a former PKB executive who jumped ship to join the People's Conscience (Hanura) Party as quoted by Koran Indonesia.
Muhaimin doesn't seem confident enough to lead the PKB without Gus Dur's backing. On various occasions, he genuinely expressed his admiration of Gus Dur and even put up the latter's portraits. Addressing a rally in Surabaya on March 18, he acknowledged the half-blind former president was his mentor and had molded him into who he was now. "I think what Gus Dur is doing now is testing me, and his intention is to make me a tough NU politician," he said.
Strangely enough, PKB leaders in the East Java regencies of Jember, Probolinggo and Bangkalan all pledged allegiance to Gus Dur and use his images at their rallies to attract crowds.
Muhaimin's rallies have seen smaller crowds, and he has to woo people to his gatherings with door prizes ranging from motorcycles to fans and wall clocks, according to Republika online (March 18, 2009).
The lackluster rallies may well suggest that NU sympathizers have heeded Gus Dur's call to boycott Muhaimin's PKB.
Besides, if gubernatorial elections are good yardsticks to sound a party's performance, then the PKB has shown worrying signs of flops. Its gubernatorial candidates in East Java, Central Java and West Java have all lost to candidates from rival parties. Time will tell – very soon.