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Prabowo thanks NU for supporting incoming government
The president-elect thanked the country's largest Muslim organization for pledging its support for his incoming government as well as its leadership for embracing him, even though he was unaffiliated with NU.
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President-elect Prabowo Subianto (second right) sits alongside (from left) Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) chairman Yahya Cholil Staquf and vice president-elect Gibran Rakabuming Raka on April 28, 2024 while attending a halal bi halal (post-Ramadan gathering) of the NU executive board in Jakarta. (The Jakarta Post/Antara/Rio Feisal)
Prabowo Subianto has expressed gratitude to Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), especially for its pledge to back his incoming administration.
Speaking on Sunday evening during an event at NU headquarters in Central Jakarta, the president-elect also thanked the organization's leadership for embracing him, despite the fact that he had no official ties to the country's largest Muslim organization.
"Once again I feel stronger, emboldened, by the support from NU. Today, I am also happy because I am considered a part of the NU family," Prabowo said in his speech.
Continuing, he related an anecdote about the close relationship he built during his time as a "masseur" for Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, the NU's most renowned cleric who served as the country's fourth president from 1999 to 2001.
"It was an honor for me to be in [Gus Dur's] bedroom. True, this was from the time I was a major until I became a general. So thank you, Nahdhatul Ulama," Prabowo told the gathering, as quoted by Antara.
The Muslim organization formally declared its neutrality in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election on Feb. 14, but several of its senior members became affiliated with Prabowo's campaign team, including popular East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa.
Speaking after Prabowo at the same event, NU chairman Yahya Cholil Staquf said the organization had decided to support Prabowo's candidacy and his incoming administration simply as part of its principle to promote public welfare.
"This is the underlying reason for us to remain with President Joko Widodo until the very end. NU wants to help his administration realize the agenda to promote people's welfare and for the people to really feel that," Yahya said.
