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View all search resultsUnpolitical NU? Dream on
Too much politicking by NU top leaders is undermining its larger mission of looking after the spiritual needs of followers.
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President Prabowo Subianto (center) is flanked by Nadhlatul chairman Yahya Cholil Staquf (third left) and supreme leader Miftachul Achyar (third right) during a ceremony to commemorate NU's 102nd anniversary on Feb. 5, at the Istora Indoor Stadium in Central Jakarta. (Presidential Secretariat/-)
T
he ongoing leadership crisis in Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) has yet to affect its vast membership or national life, despite the organization’s political influence in the country. But unless NU’s leaders resolve their dispute, the crisis could damage the reputation of Indonesia’s largest Islamic organization, with uncertain consequences for the country.
For now, it is not clear who is in charge of NU. The Syuriah (supreme advisory council) has fired executive board chairman Yahya Cholil Staquf (Gus Yahya).
Gus Yahya refuses to stand down, and has removed his secretary general Syaifullah "Gus Ipul" Yusuf, who is also Social Affairs Minister in President Prabowo Subianto's Cabinet.
The Syuriah faulted Gus Yahya for tarnishing the reputation of the organization when he invited a speaker from the “international Zionist network” to give a leadership training for NU members, an action it says violated the values and teachings of NU.
This is a reference to Peter Berkowitz, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in the United States, and a strong supporter of Zionism. The US political scholar was invited as a resource person for the NU National Leadership Academic in August. He also gave a scientific oration at the Introduction to Academic System at the University of Indonesia.
Gus Yahya has taken responsibility for the scandal and publicly apologized. The elderly clerics in the Syuriah however are not a forgiving lot. Last week, they gave him a Nov. 26 deadline or face a dishonorable discharge. When the time passed and nothing happened, they announced that Gus Yahya is no longer running the organization.
Showing his defiance and in clear retaliation, Gus Yahya sacked Gus Ipul as secretary general, citing his Cabinet role as rendering in unable to perform NU duties. Although Gus Ipul remains a member of the executive board.
