Fachrul Razi (JP/Seto Wardhana)

The appointment of retired military general Fachrul Razi as the new religious affairs minister has sparked criticism from Indonesia's largest Islamic mass organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), which backed President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s reelection bid and whose members have regularly occupied the post for decades.

Fachrul's appointment marks the first time in the era since the fall of Soeharto, also known as the Reform Era, that the position has gone to someone from the Indonesian Military (TNI) and not a member of the NU or the country's second-largest Islamic group, Muhammadiyah.

The move to appoint Fachrul, the TNI's deputy commander from 1999 to 2000 and a member of Jokowi's team of experts during his first term in office, was made amid Jokowi’s fight against Islamic radicalism.

A number of terror attacks, some deadly, have occurred since Jokowi took office, the latest being a knife attack against former coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister Wiranto earlier this month.

Throughout the three decades of Soeharto's New Order, the country's longest serving president also appointed religious affairs ministers with military backgrounds, namely Lt. Gen. (ret.) Alamsyah Ratu Perwiranegara and Rear Adm. (ret.) Tarmizi Taher, although the latter also came from a family known for its strong Islamic activism.

Jokowi's decision has drawn criticism from the NU, with several of its central board (PBNU) figures expressing their disappointment, citing Fachrul's lack of experience in overseeing religious affairs.

A number of the NU's clerics had previously expressed hope that a number of ministerial positions in Jokowi’s new Cabinet would go to NU members and the NU’s unofficial political arm, the National Awakening Party (PKB), given their support for Jokowi and his running mate Ma’ruf Amin, the NU's former supreme leader, in the 2019 presidential election.

The pair scored major victories in the NU's strongholds of Central and East Java. The PKB secured only three of the six ministerial posts it had requested.

Fachri's predecessor, Lukman Hakim Syarifuddin, is a politician from the Islam-based United Development Party (PPP), which also has historical links to the NU.

PBNU executive Robikin Emhas told The Jakarta Post on Thursday that many kyais (Islamic clerics) from various regions had expressed disappointment and protested Fachrul's appointment.

"The kyais have acknowledged that the Religious Affairs Ministry has to be on the frontline in countering religious-based terrorism. However, the kyais do not understand the decision," Robikin said.

Rumadi Ahmad, head of the PBNU's human resources development institution, concurred, although he noted that disappointment had only been expressed by members of the organization who expected the ministerial post be given to someone with experience in religious affairs, such as those with ties to the NU.

"The PBNU fully supported [the President] in the presidential election. Although the PBNU never directly asked [for Cabinet positions], the President should've taken into consideration the things he would need for political stability. This is a spontaneous stance from people affiliated with the NU. However, I want to assure you that the NU never requested positions nor intervened [in the President's decision-making]. We remain respectful of the decision, but disappointment is a given," he told the Post.

He added that some members of the PBNU also questioned the retired general's track-record in overseeing religious affairs, especially after Fachrul made a statement implying he was "not a minister of Islam, but a minister of the five religions in Indonesia". The statement, which the minister made after his appointment at the State Palace on Oct. 23, sparked debate, as Indonesia acknowledges six official religions.

"The challenge for the Religious Affairs Ministry is to protect religious groups that have not been acknowledged by the country and have persistently faced discrimination, including native-faith followers and minority groups. So it's true that the minister is not only a minister of Islam, but should be a minister for people of all religions and faiths," Rumadi said.

Since Jokowi announced his new Cabinet lineup, the official Twitter account of the NU community, @Netizen_NU, has used the hashtag #TolakMenag (reject the religious affairs minister).

The tweets appeared to contain warnings to the President to not "play around" with the organization, with one tweet on Oct. 24 stating, "When the NU 'takes action', only then will Pak @jokowi feel regret" alongside the #TolakMenag hashtag and a picture of writing titled "The Historical Witness".

The writing discusses the severing of ties between the NU and the government under Soeharto's regime, including the exclusion of the NU from any Cabinet and high-ranking positions in the late 1990s, and ends with, "A year later, in May 1998, the president was deposed. As simple as that! [Understood]?".

Rumadi said the views expressed on the account did not represent those of the PBNU and said it instead reflected the community's "disappointment" in Jokowi's decision.

"We won't cross the line with our disappointment and we won't do anything that goes beyond the corridors of the NU's beliefs," he said.

The NU's disappointment over Fachrul's appointment was expected given that political transactions are common in Indonesia's elections, especially as the organization, along with the PKB, has been actively panning support for Jokowi at the grassroots level, said Azis Anwar Fachrudin, a researcher at the Center for Religious and Intercultural Studies at Gadjah Mada University.

The disappointment, Azis argued, was justified as Fachrul's expertise in religious affairs remained in question, citing the example of his statement on the five official religions, a narrative spearheaded by the New Order.

He added that the appointment marked the military's increasing influence in Jokowi's administration, which he said resembled the New Order.

"We will have to first see his policies in the next 100 days, but I expect they will be just like the New Order, in which the religious affairs ministers were from the military. The appointments played a major role in implementing the single principle of [state ideology] Pancasila, which caused organizations to change their principles from those of Islamic values to Pancasila," he said.

Amid the criticism, Jokowi reiterated on Oct. 24 his wish to curb radicalism and intolerance through Fachrul's appointment, citing the latter's "extended field experience".

Azis criticized the motive, arguing that employing someone from the military suggested potentially repressive militaristic measures could be adopted.

"Such measures will limit freedom of expression and won't be good for democracy. Radicalism is a form of thought, so it can only be countered with thoughts and not with repression. [...] It's best to have a civilian minister," he said.

Amid the doubts surrounding his suitability, Fachrul claimed he had gained knowledge on religious affairs by reading books and had experience delivering sermons, which he believed was among the reasons behind his appointment to the ministerial post.

Marchio Irfan Gorbiano contributed to the story.

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