Jakarta (Antara) – In a speech in front of the Nahdalatul Ulama (NU) crowd, Vice presidential candidate Ma'ruf Amin said that the '212-movement' shifted away from its original goal and has turned into a political movement."The 212 movement originally enforced the law against a blasphemy case, but it has now turned to a political movement," said Jokowi's running-mate in front of Central Java's NU kiai and public figures on Tuesday, February 5.

The non-active Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) chairman said that the original 212-movement should have been terminated after the blasphemy suspect was sentenced to prison, but it eventually gave rise to other movements such as PA 212 and the National Movement to Safeguard the Ulema Fatwa (GNPF Ulema) which replaces the GNPF MUI.

"The PA 212 movement and GNPF Ulema is no longer related to upholding the [Islamic] Law, but rather a political movement and uses the presidential election as their political instrument," said Ma'ruf Amin.

However, Ma'ruf Amin feels that there is no problem with preserving the 212 movements as a means to 'silaturahmi' or congregate with like-minded people.

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/1172594/vp-candidate-maruf-amin-deems-212-groups-turned-political