Presidential ticket Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar, who are known as Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) followers, said on Wednesday that they would include Muhammadiyah in their cabinet, if they won the upcoming February 2024 election.      

Presidential candidate Anies Baswedan said there was no doubt that the pair would follow President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s approach in appointing Muhammadiyah members as ministers.  

"The President also provided [a quota for Muhammadiyah]," he said during a talk show at the Muhammadiyah University of Surakarta campus in Surakarta, Central Java.

Muhammadiyah is the second largest Muslim organization in the country after the NU.

The question came as a surprise to the candidates as Muhammadiyah is known as a Muslim group that stays away from politics, despite many of its high-profile members being given seats in the presidential cabinets, including in Jokowi’s administration.

Muhammadiyah chairman Haedar Nashir said earlier this year that the group would not support any presidential candidates. The same commitment also came from NU chairman Yahya Cholil Staquf.

But as the race to build coalitions for presidential tickets continues, there has been interest from presidential candidates and political parties to choose running mates from the NU and those based in East Java, two factors that have been noted as determining who wins the election in Java, and therefore Indonesia.

The NasDem Party, the biggest political party supporting Anies, picked Muhaimin, the National Awakening Party (PKB) chairman and a relative of prominent NU leader, the late Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid. 

Java is home to 56 percent of the total 204.8 million voters who will participate in the general election next year. While not the province with the largest population on the island, East Java, the home base of the NU, is found to have determined the victory in the past presidential elections.

"If Anies and Muhaimin become president and vice president, will you appoint ministers from Muhammadiyah?" the organization’s secretary-general Abdul Mu’ti asked the candidate pair during the discussion.

Anies later quipped that the next question should be whether Mu’ti would be included in the list.  

Mu'ti then asked another question to Muhaimin about the number of ministers Muhammadiyah might expect. Although he confirmed that there would be ministers from Muhammadiyah, Muhaimin did not provide a specific number.

"During every period of national leadership, I don't think there is anyone who dares to miss out on ministers from Muhammadiyah. Especially the two of us, we will [ensure that]," he said.

Haedar explained that the purpose of the event was to enhance political literacy among the public, ensuring they understood the future candidates and their track records. He expressed confidence that the dialogue would encourage informed choices rather than uninformed selections.

He also emphasized again that the event was not intended to endorse any candidates.

"We approach [the dialogue] in a scholarly, and elegant manner, opening up space for the public to know who they are choosing and to be responsible for their choices," said Haedar.

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