Memories Of Cak Imin Kudeta Gus Dur From PKB

Cak Imin in the 14th Haul Gus Dur at the PKB DPP in 2023. (Between/ Fakhri Hermansyah)

JAKARTA - Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur) likes to recruit young cadres for the National Awakening Party (PKB). Youth from all over the country are allowed to become cadres. Gus Dur's deputy, Muhaimin Iskandar (Cak Imin) is included in it.

Mulainya Gus Dur merasa nyaman-nyaman saja. Namun, kehadiran Cak Imin dianggap merusak segalanya. Gus Dur menganggap Cak Imin tokoh yang mudah disedir dan mendua. Asuman itu nyata bukan pesan sempurah. Cak Imin kemudian melanggapankan kudeta terhadap PKB.

Gus Dur likes young people who are involved in the struggle against the ruler of the New Order (Orba). Cak Imin, one of them. Gus Dur not only sees Cak Imin as his distant nephew, but also sees Cak Imin's activeness in the world of student movements.

At that time, Cak Imin was active as part of a group of students, the Indonesian Islamic Student Movement (PMII) and the Indonesian National Committee (KNPI). Cak Imin's living behavior made Gus Dur narrow. Cak Imin, who incidentally witnessed the birth of PKB, was withdrawn as a potential cadre.

Gus Dur needed his dedication and thoughts as a young man. He also represented PKB as a member of the Indonesian House of Representatives for the 1999-2004 period. Gus Dur's view regarding Cak Imin did not change. He views Cak Imin as special in the political map of Indonesia.

This narrative was shown by Gus Dur when supporting Cak Imin in the election of the General Chairperson of PKB at the PKB Congress II in Semarang in 2005. This support made Cak Imin successfully advance as the winner by eliminating his opponents. Among others, Mahfud MD, Ali Masykur Moesa, and Saifullah Yusuf.

Cak Imin also became the General Chair of the PKB DPP. Meanwhile, Gus Dur served as Chairman of the PKB Shura Council. In fact, the victory actually disappointed Gus Dur a lot. Cak Imin, who was hailed by him, was actually considered two-faced.

Gus Dur felt that Cak Imin had made many eyes with the authorities. The nuances arose because Cak Imin was suspected of thwarting Gus Dur in the 2009 presidential election. Therefore, Gus Dur took a stand to fire Cak Imin in 2008, or one year before the presidential election.

"Yes, not really. I depend on what the central board says, the regional board, and the branch management board only. Ah, (Cak Imin) is loyal to himself, really. Right, just talking. I don't believe it because he's always two words. "

"Well, that's my second attitude, for PKB humans it becomes two groups. One of them, only remembers his own ambitions. Second, the public interest, including personal ambition. So far, Muhaimin entered first. This is all a legacy from the time of Matori Abdul Djalil, Alwi Shihab, and Saifullah Yusuf. So I accept, say, rotten goods. The repairs are heavy, "explained Gus Dur as quoted by Tempo Magazine in his report entitled Repeated History (2008).

Gus Dur's power to fire Cak Imin did not solve the problem. Cak Imin felt that his dismissal was flawed by the rules. Moreover, Cak Imin did not feel a mistake. Cak Imin and his supporters did not accept it. They filed a lawsuit against Gus Dur to the South Jakarta District Court.

Since then the relationship between Gus Dur and Cak Imin has worsened. The two even declared the PKB Extraordinary Congress (MLB) their respective versions. Gus Dur's camp perpetuated the MLB PKB in Parung Bogor from April 30, May 1. The Cak Imin camp carried out the MLB in Ancol the day after that.

The results of MLB Ancol made Cak Imin sit as General Chair of PKB again. The decision was also acknowledged by the court's decision with the same narrative. Cak Imin was on the top of the wind because he felt he was the rightful general chairman. Gus Dur's camp loyalists were fired one by one. Mainly Gus Dur's son, Zannuba Ariffah Chafsoh (Yenny Wahid).

Cak Imin's camp then fully controlled the PKB. Then, Gus Dur himself began to slowly disappear from the Indonesian political stage. Even though Cak Imin and PKB had to pay for the coup by decreasing the votes achieved by PKB in the 2009 election. This is because Gus Dur, who became the PKB icon, has been coupted by his nephew.

Gus Dur's camp's defeat in competition to obtain the legality of the PKB leadership with the Cak Imin camp caused the so-called first loss of power, while the other camp controlled the party. Gus Dur and his supporters who were originally so dominant in the party with the court's decision above made him lose their dominance again.

"Strong personalization occurred in PKB throughout the party, especially during the presence of Gus Dur until 2008. After that, personalization has a tendency to weaken because PKB is synonymous with Gus Dur's image, which is the dominant figure in various party internal policies, and can attract voter sympathy (vote getter), no longer in control of the party," wrote Ridho Imawan Hanafi in the book Persionalization of Political Parties in Indonesia Era Reform (2018).