HERE is the irony of the National Awakening Party (PKB): it won East Java in the 2004 General Elections, but it is losing in the race for the governor’s seat. The quick counts of a number of survey institutes show that the Achmady-Suhartono pair, representing the NU community, is trailing far behind, with only 7.8 percent of the votes.

Achmady ran against other pesantren-minded candidates, like Khofifah Indar Parawansa, who is head of the NU M