T

he youth organization of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the nation’s largest Islamic group, has warned President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo about the presence of radical organizations that have consolidated as the 2019 election draws closer.

The NU’s Ansor Youth Wing (GP Ansor) even went as far as to say that radical groups that support the establishment of an Islamic state have penetrated one of the camps that will contest the general election.

Jokowi received GP Ansor members at the Presidential Palace complex in Jakarta on Friday, during which they discussed issues related to the election as well as political ups and downs in the country, the group’s chairman Yaqut Cholil Qoumas said.

The members, which comprise leaders of GP Ansor’s regional chapters across the country’s 34 provinces, reported to Jokowi that they found a number of radical organizations had consolidated in several provinces, including in Riau and West Java.

“[The groups] are not disrupting the election, but they have infiltrated one of the camps to insert their own agenda, such as to establish an Islamic state […] or at least have Indonesia ruled by sharia,” Yaqut told reporters after the meeting.

Yaqut asserted that GP Ansor would not tolerate any group that attempted to challenge the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI). “No one shall fight for their own will and no one must fight for any state other than the NKRI,” he said.

The youth wing and its fight against radical ideologies made headlines in October last year after its paramilitary unit Banser reportedly burned a flag bearing the text of shahada, which the group said belonged to the banned Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI).

The flag-burning incident caused uproar among the country’s Islamic organizations, who later staged a rally in the capital demanding the prosecution of the three men who burned the flag bearing the Islamic creed.

Among the groups that attended the rally and decried the incident were the firebrand Islam Defenders Front (FPI) and the National Movement to Safeguard Fatwas (GNPF), both of which were members of the so-called 212 Rally Alumni.

The alumni group gathered people who were involved in the Dec. 2, 2016, rally that called for the prosecution of then-Jakarta governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, a Christian of Chinese descent, for blasphemy.

A number of figures affiliated with the FPI and GNPF have voiced support for presidential contender Prabowo Subianto and running mate Sandiaga Uno in the 2019 election, with GNPF chairman Yusuf Martak and FPI spokesperson Slamet Maarif given positions in the campaign team.

Former HTI spokesperson Ismail Yusanto attended the GNPF ulema meeting that recommended names of potential vice-presidential candidates for Prabowo in July.

When asked whether his statement referred to Prabowo’s camp, Yaqut said, “I don’t want to say it, but it is a fact and we can feel it.”

Hashim Djojohadikusumo, the younger brother of Prabowo and a member of his campaign team, asserted that the retired general rejected the concept of an Islamic state and he believed that state ideology Pancasila was final for Indonesia.

“We don’t support an [Islamic] caliphate,” Hashim said as quoted by tribunnews.com.

Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko said the President had not responded to the allegation made by GP Ansor. “However, I personally warn that anyone who uses radical groups for their interests will see their plan backfire,” he said.