Word: muslims
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...blind Muslim cleric stumbled forward and butted the microphone with his head before a minder steadied him. Another aide whispered the presidential oath in his ear as he pretended to read the words out loud from the folder thrust into his hands. It was an awkward beginning in front of the national assembly for Abdurrahman Wahid, a stroke victim who last Wednesday became the first freely elected President of Indonesia. And it was a bitter denouement for Megawati Sukarnoputri, the presumed front runner who had been left sucking for air by a series of political maneuvers she hadn't even...
Wahid is from a distinguished family of Muslim leaders. Known for his mischievous wit, the multilingual scholar speaks English and Arabic fluently. He studied in Iraq and Egypt, and heads the 30 million-strong Nahdlatul Ulama, a nationwide association that runs traditional Islamic schools. But he also is a lover of Western literature and classical music, has a long record of opposing religious extremism and speaking out on behalf of the Christian and Chinese minorities in Indonesia and has even recommended opening diplomatic relations with Israel--much to the fury of more conservative Islamic groups. "Gus Dur is a pluralist...
...able to get enough votes in the assembly to win. Megawati's P.D.I. party had won the single largest share of the vote in June's national elections. But subsequently the former housewife failed to reach out to other parties to guarantee herself a majority in the assembly. Muslim parties began to rail against the prospect of having a female President. Wahid and Megawati had been very close in the reformist campaign last year, but even he came to resent her aloofness after the June polls: a mobile phone he carried whose number only she knew "rarely rang," according...
...dealmaking and says, "For me, silence is a political act." But her refusal to engage with other parties, plus the rabble-rousing tactics of her supporters, threatened to degenerate into a head-on confrontation with Islamic parties. "Megawati's followers were talking about revolution, while some of Habibie's [Muslim] followers were talking about a jihad," says Dewi Fortuna Anwar, a senior adviser to Habibie. A compromise had to be found, and Wahid was its vehicle. "He plays high-class politics beautifully--with both friends and foes," says Ahmad Suhelmi, lecturer in politics at the University of Indonesia. Wahid...
...nation, and he has the capacity," says Emil Salim, a respected former Finance Minister. "But Gus Dur is not a healthy man." Should he die or become incapacitated, Megawati would take over as President for the remainder of his five-year term--something that could spark renewed opposition from Muslim parties, particularly if it happened before she had time to mend some political fences...