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Ex-Indonesia
leader Abdurrahman Wahid mourned
BBC: Thursday, 31 December 2009
Often referred to by his nickname, Gus Dur, Wahid led the country from
1999 to 2001. He died on Wednesday aged 69.
He was the first elected president after the fall of the Suharto regime.
Mourners wept as they lit candles and burned incense for a leader who was widely renowned for his tolerance and
openness to other faiths and ideas.
Wahid was removed from office in 2001 over unproven allegations of corruption, but remained politically active
until his final years.
A nationally televised memorial service for Wahid, led by current president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, began a
week of national mourning.
Flags will be flown at half mast across the country
Speaking at the memorial, Mr Yudhoyono said Wahid had made Indonesians
"realise and respect the diversity of ideas and identities brought about by differences in faiths, beliefs,
ethnicity and locality".
He was a Muslim, but he became a blessing to all faiths
Archbishop Julius Darmaatmadja SJ
"Whether we realise
it or not, really, he was the father of pluralism and multiculturalism in Indonesia," he said. |
The former leader was buried in his East Java hometown, Jombang, where
about 5,000 supporters gathered to welcome his motorcade.
His supporters have held vigils at mosques, churches, temples and schools.
"Gus Dur was a saint. Every time he visited, I always came to receive his blessing," said mourner Maryamah,
47, in Jombang.
Such was the emotion in Jakarta that Gus Dur's wheelchair-bound widow, Shinta Nuriyah, and tearful daughter Yenny,
were swamped by crowds.
Wahid's brother said he had been "humorous, happy, clever, brave" and that he had cared deeply about
the community.
"He was full of life and his fighting spirit was strong. Even when he was sick, he would fight on," Salahuddin
Wahid told the AFP news agency.
The Jakarta Post newspaper reported that news of Gus Dur's death had prompted spontaneous prayer gatherings across
the country - and not only among fellow Muslims.
Prayer vigils have been held for Wahid across Indonesia
Jakarta Archbishop Julius Darmaatmadja SJ said Gus Dur had left an indelible mark on people of all faiths.
"He was a Muslim, but he became a blessing to all faiths," the newspaper quoted him as saying.
The leaders of Indonesia's political elite gathered at the funeral.
"We just lost a great statesman who fought to keep the country pluralist, while fighting fundamentalism,"
lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis said.
"He was a true democrat, respecting even his political foes."
Messages of condolence also poured in from abroad.
The White House said Wahid had been "a pivotal figure" in Indonesia's transition to a free government,
who "will be remembered for his commitment to democratic principles, inclusive politics, and religious tolerance".
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Wahid had been "much admired and respected not only within Indonesia,
but also by many Australians and others throughout our region".
"Our thoughts go in particular to his family, including his widow and four daughters," he said.
Surprising victory
The partially blind Muslim cleric came to power after defeating Megawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of founding
President Sukarno, in October 1999.
His win was a surprise - Mrs Megawati's party had won far more votes in
the legislative polls - and a testament to Wahid's ability to build coalitions with other parties.
He used this skill to try to bring unity in the tumultuous post-Suharto years.
Educated in Indonesia, Egypt, Iraq and Canada, Wahid had a reputation for religious tolerance and moderate politics.
But he not been in the job long before his opponents accused him of failing to tackle the economic crisis, and
doing little to resolve the secessionist conflicts in several provinces of Indonesia.
In July 2001, less than two years into the job, he was sacked by the country's national assembly amid unproven
allegations of corruption and incompetence.
As well as his prominent political role, he was also a leader of Nahdlatul Ulama, a Muslim group with some 40 million
members - and one of the largest independent Islamic organisations in the world.
He suffered several strokes and was confined to a wheelchair in his later years, but despite his fading health
he remained an influential figure in politics.
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Obituary:
Abdurrahman Wahid
BBC: Wednesday, 30 December 2009
Abdurrahman Wahid, who has died at the age of 69, was one of the most formidable and colourful figures in Indonesian
political and religious life.
Wahid, or Gus Dur as he was also known, was born in Jombang, East Java in 1940, the first of five children in a
prominent and politically active Muslim family.
His paternal grandfather was the founder of Indonesia's largest Muslim organisation, the Nahdlatul Ulama, or NU,
while his father Wahid Hasyim would go on to be Indonesia's first minister of religious affairs.
The family moved to Jakarta in 1944 where Wahid attended school and was encouraged by his father to read non-Muslim
books and newspapers to broaden his horizons.
Studies abroad
He returned to Jombang to attend Muslim school in 1959, where he began work as a teacher and later as a headmaster,
and in 1963 received a scholarship to study at al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt.
He continued his studies in the Iraqi capital Baghdad and later in the Netherlands, and eventually returned to
Indonesia in 1971, where he worked as a journalist and social commentator, and later as an academic.
In the late 1970s Wahid began to play an active role in the running of the NU - which draws its support of at least
30 million members from Muslims in the rural areas of Java - seeing himself as a reformer of the organisation.
At this time he also had his first political experience, campaigning for the United Development Party, PPP, a Muslim
party which was formed as a result of a merger of four Muslim parties including NU.
He became chairman of NU in 1984, but consistently maintained that government should be secular and that faith
is a personal matter.
'Kingmaker'
However his position as a moral leader was transformed following the dramatic fall of President Suharto in 1998.
Former president Wahid suffered poor health in recent years
In the ensuing unrest, some politicians made increasingly vocal calls for Islam to have an institutionalised role
in the state.
Although health problems, especially poor eyesight, limited his effectiveness, Wahid's position as chairman of
NU placed him in the role of "kingmaker" following Suharto's downfall.
Wahid and his supporters formed the National Awakening Party, PKB, and after months of prevarication over whether
he would actually stand, Wahid was officially declared as presidential candidate in February 1999.
His election as president, in October 1999, came as a shock to many after
Megawati Sukarnoputri's PDI-P party had emerged as the winner of Indonesia's parliamentary elections in June that
year.
He was seen as a reformer and democrat as well as a man who could unite the country after the chaos surrounding
the downfall of Suharto and his authoritarian regime.
Host of problems
But the transition to democracy was never going to be easy and President Wahid's honeymoon was short-lived.
He got off to a good start by curbing the influence of the military over his government.
Against great odds he succeeded in sacking the former armed forces chief and man accused of instigating the destruction
of East Timor, General Wiranto.
He also moved early on issues such as the liberalisation of Chinese cultural and religious expression and the release
of political prisoners.
He explored trade relations with Israel and agreed a memorandum of understanding, albeit briefly, with the separatist
movement in the Sumatran province of Aceh.
But he soon ran into a host of problems, some of them self-made.
Despite a flare-up of sectarian and separatist violence across the country,
Mr Wahid embarked on a series of long trips abroad, seeming to ignore problems back home.
His style of leadership soon appeared erratic and unfocused and in particular without any emphasis on the critical
issue of economic recovery.
Political isolation
But perhaps his most controversial move was the sacking of two senior ministers from the cabinet without any proper
explanation.
This also exposed the weakness of his coalition government as the main parties on whose support he depended began
to turn against him.
Wahid's presidency ultimately collapsed following unproven allegations of corruption. One of the allegations involved
the theft of $4.1m from the national food agency by people claiming to be acting on his behalf.
He was impeached by the Indonesian parliament in July 2001, and replaced by his deputy, Megawati Sukarnoputri.
Less than two years after his election, he was a politically isolated man, whose inability to govern rendered him
an almost pathetic figure who refused to leave the palace despite being replaced by parliament.
In recent years he had suffered several strokes, kidney problems and was nearly blind.
He remained an influential figure in Indonesian politics, and a staunch
defender of secular politics and moderate Islam.
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