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View all search resultsGus Kikin vows calmer, more cohesive NU
Newly elected Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) chairman Abdul Hakim Mahfudz, also known as Gus Kikin, is a former businessman and a great-grandson of the organization’s founder Hasyim Asy’ari. NU is the largest Muslim organization in Indonesia.
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President Prabowo Subianto (right) closes the 35th Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) congress on Aug. 31as newly elected supreme leader Miftahul Akhyar (center) and newly elected chairman Abdul Hakim Mahfudz, also known as Gus Kikin, look on at Bahrul Ulum Islamic boarding school in Jombang, East Java. (Antara/Syaiful Arif)
N
ahdlatul Ulama (NU) has entrusted its leadership to East Java cleric Abdul Hakim Mahfudz through a historic indirect voting system intended to shield the organization from external influence, although the mechanism and its outcome have instead renewed concerns over political interference.
Abdul, better known as Gus Kikin, was elected NU chairman for the next five-year term on Monday morning, the final day of the organization’s 35th national congress in Jombang, East Java.
Nine senior clerics on the Ahlul Halli Wal-Aqdi (AHWA) council unanimously selected Gus Kikin over four other nominated candidates, including outgoing chairman Yahya Cholil Staquf and deputy chairman Zulfa Mustofa.
The decision was NU’s first indirect election for its chairman, marking a historic shift for the country’s largest Muslim organization. The change came a day earlier, when the overwhelming majority of the congress delegates voted to have AHWA select the chairman, replacing the direct vote previously afforded to the delegates.
In his inaugural address, Gus Kikin expressed hope that NU, entering its second century this year, could collaborate with President Prabowo Subianto’s administration to strengthen national unity.
“We can make Indonesia [better] going forward,” Gus Kikin said. “NU has a sufficiently large grassroots base, which we hope can help create a calmer and more cohesive society.”
Born in Jombang, the 68-year old cleric is a great-grandson of the organization's founder and national hero Hasyim Asy’ari, giving him one of NU’s most distinguished clerical pedigrees.
