Salahuddin Wahid

Salahuddin Wahid (11 September 1942 – 2 February 2020), colloquially known as Gus Solah, was an Indonesian Islamic scholar and politician. He originated from a Nahdlatul Ulama family, and was the younger brother of Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid. He served in the country's People's Consultative Assembly (1998–1999), and as the vice chair of the National Commission on Human Rights (2002–2004). During the 2004 Indonesian presidential election, he became the running mate to Wiranto, though the ticket lost the election. Early life and family Salahuddin Wahid was born in Jombang, in East Java, on 11 September 1942. His father was Wahid Hasyim, and his grandfather was Hasyim Asy'ari, the founder of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU). He attended public schools in Jakarta, graduating from SMPN 1 Cikini and SMAN 1 Jakarta, before obtaining a degree in architecture from the Bandung Institute of Technology. He married Farida, daughter of former Minister of Religious Affairs Saifuddin Zuhri and sister of future minister to the same office Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, in 1968. The couple had three children. Career After graduating from his studies, Wahid worked in architecture and had leadership positions in construction companies, but departed these roles following the Asian financial crisis. Between 1998 and 1999, Wahid served in the People's Consultative Assembly. Following the fall of Suharto, multiple political parties were established which were related to NU, including the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the Ummat Awakening Party (PKU). Salahuddin's brother and later president Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur) joined PKB, while Salahuddin joined PKU. The two engaged in public debates published by the newspaper Media Indonesia during October 1998, on the topic of their father's vision for the country. Gus Dur argued that Hasyim supported Pancasila (the state ideology of Indonesia), while Salahuddin argued that he supported a state based on Islam. Wahid left PKU in September 1999.