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Abdurrahman Wahid, Muslim Democrat, Indonesian President

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Abdurrahman Wahid, Muslim Democrat, Indonesian President • Wahid pics 2/7/02 9:33 AM Page 1 Abdurrahman, 1979 (Kompas)— • Wahid pics 2/7/02 9:33 AM Page 2 — Above: Abu Hasan, Idham Chalid and Abdurrahman (Antara) Below: Abdurrahman and— Kiai Achmad Siddiq (Antara) • Wahid pics 2/7/02 9:33 AM Page 3 Below: Abdurrahman and Nuriyah on a visit to the Middle East in the early 1990s (family— album) • Wahid pics 2/7/02 9:34 AM Page 4 — Above: Abdurrahman and family in the Netherlands in the late 1980s (family album) Below: Traditional family portrait,— July 1999 (family album) • Wahid pics 2/7/02 9:34 AM Page 5 Abdurrahman and Soeharto shake hands in the early 1990s, observed by Solichah, Abdurrahman’s mother (family— album) Abdurrahman shakes hands with Soeharto on 19 May 1998, when the group of nine ulama met with the president two days before his resignation. Al Zastron stands behind him. (family— album) • Wahid pics 2/7/02 9:34 AM Page 6 — Above: Abdurrahman and Soeharto in November 1999, shortly after Abdurrahman was elected president (Presidential Archives) Below: Abdurrahman and General Benny Murdani in the early 1990s (Kompas)— • Wahid pics 2/7/02 9:34 AM Page 7 — Above: The ‘four leaders of the reform movement’ after their long-awaited meeting in Ciganjur, 10 November 1998. Left to right: Hamengkubowono X (the Sultan of Yogyakarta), Abdurrahman Wahid, Megawati Sukarnoputri, Amien Rais (Kompas) Below: Abdurrahman addresses a crowd of PKB supporters in May 1999 (author)— • Wahid pics 2/7/02 9:34 AM Page 8 Abdurrahman, assisted by Yenny, casting his vote for president, 20 October 2000 (Kompas)— Abdurrahman being sworn— in as president (Kompas) • Wahid pics 2/7/02 9:34 AM Page 9 Above: Abdurrahman — kitted out in navy jacket and beret — addresses officers of the Indonesian Navy in 2000 (Presidential— Archive) Right: Abdurrahman and East Timorese leader Xanana Gusmao meet in Jakarta in March 2000 (Presidential— Archive) • Wahid pics 2/7/02 9:34 AM Page 10 Abdurrahman, flanked by Flalba, his police adjutant, and a smiling General Wiranto in early 2000 (Presidential Archive)— Abdurrahman with Sukirno, his air- force adjutant, and friends during his regular morning walk, July 2000 (author)— • Wahid pics 2/7/02 9:34 AM Page 11 — Above: Abdurrahman Wahid, accompanied by Yenny, talks with Akbar Tanjung dur- ing the annual session of the MPR in August 2000 (Presidential Archive) Below: President Abdurrahman Wahid and B.J. Habibie in conversation; Yenny, Alwi Shihab and Bondan Gunawan— walk behind them (Presidential Archive) • Wahid pics 2/7/02 9:34 AM Page 12 Abdurrahman checks the time on the talking watch given to him by Megawati, who is at his side (Presidential— Archive) • Wahid pics 2/7/02 9:34 AM Page 13 Abdurrahman’s four daughters: Anita, Inayah, Alissa and Yenny (Presidential— Archive) Abdurrahman addresses a national Boy Scout jamboree in August 2000, flanked by Navy adjutant Room on left of photograph and Police adjutant Halloa on right (author)— • Wahid pics 2/7/02 9:34 AM Page 14 Assembly members leave the chamber at the end of the annual session of the MPR, August 2000— (author) • Wahid pics 2/7/02 9:34 AM Page 15 — Above: Abdurrahman relaxes with friends, including Djohan Effendi (left) and Wimar Witoelar (right) during the first week of the MPR session in August 2000 (author) Below: Abdurrahman with friends, including (left to right) Djohan Effendi, Mohammad Sobary, the author, Marsillam Simanjuntak and Yenny, at his suite at the Hilton during the first week of —the annual session of the MPR (author) • Wahid pics 2/7/02 9:34 AM Page 16 Abdurrahman standing between his mother and father, and behind his siblings and a friend of the family,— circa 1952 (family album) • Wahid text 2/6/02 1:29 PM Page i !"#$%%!&'!()*!&+# '$,-+')#.'/0%!12 +(#/(.,+!()3%.,+#.(1 GREG BARTON is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Arts at Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria. Since the late 1980s he has researched the influence of Islamic liberalism in Indonesia and its contribution to the development of civil society and democracy. One of the central figures in his research has been Abdurrahman Wahid, whom Barton has come to know better than perhaps any other researcher. • Wahid text 2/6/02 1:29 PM Page ii This page intentionally left blank • Wahid text 2/6/02 1:29 PM Page iii !"#$%%!&'!()*!&+# '$,-+')#.'/0%!12 +(#/(.,+!()3%.,+#.(1 A view from the inside Greg Barton UNSW PRESS • Wahid text 2/6/02 1:29 PM Page iv For Siew Mee and Hannah and in memory of Herb Feith A UNSW Press book Published by University of New South Wales Press Ltd University of New South Wales UNSW Sydney NSW 2052 AUSTRALIA www.unswpress.com.au © Greg Barton 2002 First published 2002 This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Inquiries should be addressed to the publisher. National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry: Barton, Greg, 1962– . Abdurrahman Wahid: Muslim democrat, Indonesian president. Bibliography. Includes index. ISBN 0 86840 405 5. Wahid, Abdurrahman, 1940– . 2. Presidents — Indonesia — Biography. 3. Indonesia — Politics and government — 1998– . I. Title. 321.0092 Printer Kyodo Printing, Singapore • Wahid text 2/6/02 1:29 PM Page v 0/(1.(1,~ Preface 1 Acknowledgments 5 Glossary and Abbreviations 9 Prologue 18 PART 1 PESANTREN AND FAMILY 1 Growing up in pesantren and politics, 1940–1963 37 2 Islam in Indonesia: modernists and traditionalists 62 PART 2 THE MAKING OF AN INTELLECTUAL 3 Cairo, Baghdad and Europe, 1963–1971 83 4 The pesantren and reform, 1971–1982 102 PART 3 ISLAM AND MODERNITY 5 Abdurrahman and liberal Islam 119 6 On the brink of change, 1982–1984 132 • Wahid text 2/6/02 1:29 PM Page vi PART 4 CIVIL SOCIETY AND ISLAM 7 Reform and controversy, 1984–1990 147 8 Pushing the limits, 1990–1994 179 PART 5 POLITICS, REFORM AND THE PRESIDENCY 9 Contending with Soeharto, 1994–1998 209 10 Islam, politics and elections, 1998–1999 245 11 A brief honeymoon, 1999–2000 285 12 Regime change and the fight for survival, 1999–2001 330 Epilogue 359 Conclusion 366 Notes 386 References and Further Reading 400 Index 404 • Wahid text 2/6/02 1:29 PM Page 1 3%.4!0.~ Few biographers like to imagine that their own subject is anything less than unusual and interesting. I certainly feel the same way about the focus of this biography for the most subjective of reasons, but I also believe that there are objective reasons for regarding Abdurrahman Wahid, or Gus Dur as he is known affectionately by tens of millions, as representing a most remarkable subject. I am also well aware that I have written a rather unusual biography. By the conventions of the genre, a serious biography is generally hammered out in long sessions examining archives or interviewing dozens of people who knew the subject, all of which is documented in extensive footnotes. The approach that I have taken is somewhat dif- ferent, for while this biography does benefit from extensive reading and research and from numerous interviews with a wide range of individu- als, it deliberately focuses on the subject’s own account. The reason is simple: I had a unique opportunity to observe and interact with Abdurrahman during a critical period of his life and was therefore in a position to give a firsthand account. I was privileged to be given remarkable access to Abdurrahman throughout his political campaign after the fall of Suharto and throughout his presidency; I spent hun- dreds of hours with him during this period, having already come to know him very well since first meeting him in the late 1980s. During • Wahid text 2/6/02 1:29 PM Page 2 6 !"#$%%!&'!()*!&+#5)'$,-+')#.'/0%!12)+(#/(.,+!()3%.,+#.(1 his 21-month presidency I spent about seven months as his guest, ris- ing most mornings at 4.30 am to spend the first three hours of the day with him. I was also able to travel with him around Indonesia, and occasionally abroad, and observe him at work as president. It seemed to me that, because both Abdurrahman and his world of traditionalist Islam are frequently misunderstood, even within Indonesia, an account that attempted to understand the man and his world empathetically from his point of view would have significant value, especially if it drew on firsthand observation. This does not mean that the approach I have taken is uncritical. On the contrary, I have wrestled with this material over many years and in the later chapters in particular this has led me to make a series of crit- ical observations. This is made easier for me because the bulk of this book focuses on the period since I have come to know Abdurrahman and was able to observe many of the key developments described here. What this means, of course, is that this is a very personal and subjec- tive account. This is both its strength and its weakness, but in this it is not so different from other biographies as might first appear. All biog- raphies are essentially interpretations of an individual’s life, and none is entirely objective in an absolute sense. Some benefit from decades — even centuries — of critical distance and vast bodies of earlier scholar- ship; others from direct access to more immediate sources. There are advantages and disadvantages with each. Consequently, although I believe that it is important that future biographers of Abdurrahman Wahid draw on material other than what I have used here, I don’t believe that the approach taken here is any less valid.
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