A tearful Mustofa '€œGus Mus'€ Bisri, acting rais aam (supreme leader) of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), appealed to all the delegates at the organization'€™s muktamar (national congress) to behave themselves and stop indulging in conflict and divisive practices because as Muslim leaders they should act as role models for the nation.

The audience fell silent as the respected ulema and poet came to the stage to urge the participants to practice what they have preached to the people.

'€œI'€™m weeping because our organization has always strongly criticized bad political practices, now, as described by the media, we are doing just the same,'€ said Gus Mus.

Earlier on Monday, after a plenary meeting to discuss procedural rules, particularly on how to elect the rais aam, appeared to have reached deadlock, Gus Mus invited the chairmen of the ruling body, the syuriah, at regency/city and provincial levels, as well as senior clerics, to meet for lunch at the residence of the Jombang, East Java, regent.

After Gus Mus'€™ speech, the meeting resumed and participants agreed in principle to allow the highest position in the organization to be appointed by a council of senior ulemas, called the Ahlul Halli Wal Aqdi (AHWA), which comprises senior ulemas and syuriah chairmen at the central board and local chapter levels.

The rivalry to secure the chairmanship of NU, the country'€™s largest Islamic organization, heated up at its 33rd muktamar in Jombang on Monday as accusations of vote buying were traded by delegates.

The representatives of 570 NU chapters from across the country and six special chapters from overseas were reportedly divided into two camps, with former NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi, who is also member of the Presidential Advisory Board, pitted against Gus Mus.

Hasyim'€™s camp had rejected the proposed regulation that the position of rais aam should be decided by senior ulemas on the AHWA, saying instead that the position should be directly voted on.

'€œOur presence in this muktamar would be useless, if we could not vote,'€ Warsono, secretary of NU'€™s Kampar, Riau, chapter told The Jakarta Post after the plenary meeting, which opened on Sunday, was suspended, having failed to reach an agreement.

Warsono said his chapter would support the candidacy of Hasyim as NU rais aam, with the leader of the Pesantren Tebuireng Islamic boarding school, Salahuddin '€œGus Solah'€ Wahid, as NU chairman.

Gus Solah, who is the youngest brother of the country'€™s fourth president Abdurrahman '€œGus Dur'€ Wahid, met President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo last Thursday at the State Palace.

'€œI reported the preparations for the muktamar but I wouldn'€™t say that the President necessarily supports my candidacy here,'€ Gus Solah said.

Meanwhile, the Gus Mus camp said the proposal to elect the rais aam through an AHWA was aimed at avoiding disputes among senior clerics.

'€œIt would be dishonorable for senior ulemas to fight for a position. NU is not a political party,'€ Asyary Hussein of the Kerinci, Jambi, chapter of NU said.

The Gus Mus camp would retain the current chairman, Said Agil Siradj, who has declared his intention to be nominated.

The NU Central Board, which proposed the AHWA, has repeatedly said that the system aimed at avoiding vote buying.

A member of Hasyim'€™s campaign team, Andi Jamaro Dulung, has accused their rivals of engaging in vote buying by giving each chapter between Rp 15 million (US$1,113) and Rp 25 million for their support.

The accusation was denied by the Gus Mus camp, who claimed it was their rivals who were engaged in vote buying.

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