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NU neutrality in question after top officials’ reported campaign for Prabowo
Top officials of Indonesia's largest Muslim organization have instructed leaders of NU branches across the country to support presidential pair Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka ahead of the Feb. 14 voting day, a former NU branch head recently claimed .
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President Joko “Jokowi“ Widodo (center) accompanied by Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto (second left) and Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Chairman Yahya Cholil Staquf (fourth left) attend the commemoration of National Santri Day on Oct. 22, 2023, in Surabaya, East Java. (AFP/Juni Kriswanto)
Indonesia’s largest Islamic organization Nahdlatul Ulama’s (NU) neutrality pledge for the upcoming presidential election has come under scrutiny following reports of its leadership mobilizing support for candidate pair Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka.
In an episode of political podcast GASPOL broadcast recently, prominent cleric and Muslim scholar Nadirsyah Hosen, popularly known as Gus Nadir, unveiled an effort from top NU officials to influence the organization’s members and followers to help Prabowo and Gibran, the eldest son of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, secure an outright victory in a single round election.
Recent opinion polls show that frontrunners Prabowo and Gibran will only be able to garner 46 percent of the votes on Feb. 14, less than the 50 percent required to win the presidential election in a single round without a runoff in June.
Gus Nadir, a former head of NU’s religious council in Australia and New Zealand branch, claimed that the organization’s executive board gathered leaders of NU regional branches across the country for an informal meeting at a hotel in Surabaya, East Java on Jan. 7. During the meeting, chairman Yahya Cholil Staquf gave dawuh, or unwritten instruction, to support the Prabowo-Gibran presidential ticket.
The Rais ‘Aam (supreme leader of NU) Miftachul Achyar, who was present during the meeting, reportedly told members to sam’an wa thoo’atan, or to listen to and obey the instructions, aware of how such a request from someone in such a respected position might stir controversy.
Gus Nadir expressed his disappointment in the podcast over how NU had moved away from its traditional neutral stance in politics.
“The fact that NU has been presenting two layers of reality will confuse people, especially NU followers. Many will find it hard to believe in NU in the future, and this is dangerous,” said Nadir, who is also a lecturer at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.
