Wahid, Abdurrahman

Abdurrahman Wahid , born in 1940 in Jombang, East Java. An Islamic liberal intellectual who was a former leader of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU). He is also the grandson of the founder of NU, Kyai Haji Hasyim Ashari. Known as a reforming figure, he founded the National Awakening Party (PKB) in 1999 which won approximately 11% of the seats in the 1999 general elections. With the support of a temporary coalition of Islamic parties, he was elected as Indonesia’s fourth president in 1999. In this capacity, he publicly raised the idea of lifting the longstanding ban in Indonesia on communism and proposed a judicial investigation into the 1965-66 killings, which resulted in controversy. The ban still remains. In July, 2001, he was impeached by the Indonesian Parliament and replaced by Megawati Sukarnoputri

BOURCHIER, David and HADIZ, Vedi, 2003, Indonesian Society and Politics: A Reader , London and New York: Routledge-Curzon.