Perhaps there is no mass organization more influential during election years than Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the traditionalist Islamic organization that analysts say could decide the outcome the tight 2024 presidential election.

Its expediency as an electoral instrument is comparable only to Pemuda Pancasila (PP), the paramilitary group established by the powerful elites of the New Order that is often used as a vehicle to mobilize the masses for various political purposes.

It is no surprise that analysts are predicting that the upcoming election could end up seeing three vice-presidential candidates from NU backgrounds.

That said, NU has never portrayed itself as a political organization, except for a brief period in the 1950s. It has even made it an official policy that the group will not engage in practical politics, as enshrined in its 1926 founding charter as a “socio-religious” organization. Yet, NU has long been a major political force in Indonesian politics, at times aligning itself with, and at other times, alienating itself from those in power.

In the last few years, NU has positioned itself as one of the major supporters of the President Joko”Jokowi” Widodo administration, with one of its leaders, Ma’ruf Amin, now serving as vice president and one of its senior members, Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, running the religious affairs ministry.

Read also: Who is Ma’ruf Amin, Jokowi’s running mate?

Ma’ruf, along with his NU followers, was credited with helping Jokowi win the highly polarized 2019 election. Jokowi had no choice but to align himself with the former chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), whose statements were critical in the electoral defeat and the subsequent blasphemy conviction of former Jakarta governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, a key Jokowi ally in the capital.

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