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Reelected NU chairman pledges to avoid politics

Source
Jakarta Post - August 7, 2015

Ahmad Junaidi, Jombang, East Java – Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the country's largest Islamic organization, ended its 33rd muktamar (national congress) in Jombang, East Java, on Thursday, appointing senior cleric Ma'ruf Amin as its rais aam (supreme leader) and reelecting Said Aqil Siradj as its chairman.

"I will not bring NU into politics. I will focus on economics, education and health programs," Said said in his victory speech in the congress' plenary session on Thursday morning. Said openly supported Prabowo Subianto in last year's presidential election in a personal capacity and not as the NU leader.

Said's supporters raised the issue of rejecting involvement in practical politics since the beginning of the congress, which was opened by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on Saturday night, against their rivals, mainly Hasyim Muzadi, a member of the Presidential Advisory Board, and Salahuddin "Gus Sholah" Wahid, leader of the Tebuireng Pesantren (Islamic boarding school) in Jombang.

When Hasyim was still NU chairman, he was the running mate of then president Megawati Soekarnoputri, who was also the chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), in the country's first direct presidential election in 2004.

In the same presidential election, Gus Sholah, who is the youngest brother of the country's fourth president, Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, also ran as the running mate of presidential candidate Wiranto. The election was won by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Jusuf Kalla.

The plenary session also agreed to appoint Ma'ruf, the deputy chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), as rais aam since noted cleric Mustofa "Gus Mus" Bisri refused the position.

"[The congress'] plenary session decided to approve Ma'ruf Amin as rais aam and Said Aqil Siradj as chairman," announced Ahmad Muzakki, who presided over the plenary session.

The appointment of Gus Mus, who is also known as a poet, by a council of nine senior clerics called Ahlul Halli Wal Aqdi (AHWA) triggered disappointment from Hasyim's supporters who have demanded the position of supreme leader should be voted in a direct election.

They accused the AHWA council, which was proposed by the current NU central board (PBNU), of aiming to stop the candidacy of Hasyim. The PBNU repeatedly denied the accusations, saying that the council was aiming to prevent conflicts among senior clerics who wanted to get the supreme leader position and to avoid vote buying practices.

In Makassar, Hasyim was defeated by respected cleric Sahal Mahfud while Said beat Gus Sholah and other candidates, including Golkar politician Slamet Effendy Yusuf.

On Wednesday night, Hasyim's and Gus Sholah's supporters left the congress venue and returned to their base in the Tebuireng pesantren, leaving the venue almost half empty.

The plenary session was resumed at midnight when it was attended by more than half of the participants from NU's 508 chapters across the country and the seven chapters from overseas who have voting rights. Hasyim's supporters reportedly conducted a breakaway congress in Tebuireng, some nine kilometers from the congress' venue in Jombang Alun-Alun.

Both Hasyim and Gus Sholah, who were at the boarding school since the beginning of the congress, denied that the forum was a splintered faction of NU and urged supporters not to organize a rival congress.

Commenting on the bickering in NU's congress, observer Zuhairi Misrawi said it would not lead to the break-up of the organization, which was established on Jan. 31, 1926.

"[The bickering] would not lead to a split-up. It's just a temporary emotional expression," Zuhairi, executive director of the Moderate Muslim Society, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/07/reelected-nu-chairman-pledges-avoid-politics.html

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