NU sticks to final schedule for congress

JAKARTA: Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) will not reschedule its national congress in Makassar for the second time despite US President Barack Obama’s decision to delay his visit to Indonesia, the Islamic organization said Friday.

The congress was initially scheduled to commence on March 22.

It was then postponed to March 23 when President Yudhoyono, who is supposed to open the congress, was informed that Obama delayed his departure for Jakarta from March 18 to 21 and would arrive on March 22.

The Foreign Ministry was later informed that Obama would arrive on March 23.

“We are not going to delay the congress for a second time. We do not know if the President will be able to open the congress [in person], but he can do it via a live feed,” said Anas Thahir, the organization’s deputy secretary-general.

The organization said more than 3,000 participants and observers will attend the congress in Makassar. NU is the country’s largest Muslim organization, claiming to have more than 40 million members nationwide.

Six candidates will contest the organization’s chairmanship at the upcoming congress The contenders are Salahuddin Wahid, brother of late Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid, noted intellectual Masdar Farid Mas’udi, former chairman of NU’s East Java branch Ali Maschan Moesa, Golkar politician Slamet Effendi Yusuf, former NU secretary-general Ahmad Bagja and senior cleric Said Agil Siraj. — JP