“The [central board] decided that Muhammadiyah chairman for the period of 2022-2027 will be Haedar Nashir,” said central board member Dahlan Rais to the cheers of attendees of the meeting in Surakarta, Central Java.

The board, Dahlan added, also chose to reelect secretary-general Abdul Mu’ti to the same position, with he and Haedar set to lead Muhammadiyah for the next five years.

Born in 1958, Haedar’s association with Muhammadiyah goes back to the 80s, when he was actively involved with the organization’s youth wing. He was first elected as a central board member in 2005, before replacing Din Syamsudin as chairman in Muhammadiyah’s 47^th congress in 2015.

As a scholar, Haedar earned his sociology doctorate from Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University and serves as the chief editor of the organization’s official publication the Voice of Muhammadiyah, according to its website.

While Haedar’s reelection was not made official until Sunday afternoon, his status as a favorite had already been established since Saturday night. During the voting to decide the new central board members, the incumbent chairman came in first with 2,203 votes, followed closely by Mu’ti with 2,159 votes.

In a short speech after his confirmation, Haedar said that while he was the chairman, Muhammadiyah’s leadership would still adopt a more collective approach.

“As chairman, I’m an inch higher than the central board, but our leadership will abide by collegial and unanimity principles,” he said.

Critical partner

Political analyst Adi Prayitno of Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University said that the results of the congress were indicative of the level of trust both Haedar and Mu’ti have enjoyed among Muhammadiyah members.

“Internally, Haedar and Mu’ti are seen as stabilizing figures that are able to voice the organization’s thoughts and aspirations,” Adi told The Jakarta Post in a phone interview.

Read also: Muhammadiyah to elect new chair at national congress

Going forward, Adi expected Muhammadiyah to maintain its stance as a “civil society” and critical partner of the government. Unlike the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and former Muhammadiyah chairman Amien Rais, who in recent years have vocally supported and opposed President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s administration, respectively, Muhammadiyah has taken a more objective stance.

In recent years, Muhammadiyah has stood against the controversial law on job creation and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Law revision, which many perceive as a deliberate weakening of the respected antigraft commission.

At the same time, the organization has also actively supported the government’s efforts in combating the spread of COVID-19, going as far as establishing its own COVID-19 command center to help coordinate the response.

As a result, there are fewer Muhammadiyah members inside the government, especially when compared with fellow Islamic organization the NU, Adi said. But he saw this less as an indication of Muhammadiyah’s waning influence and more of a conscious choice by the organization to maintain its distance from the center of power.

“Muhammadiyah has praised the government before for policies the organization deem positive, but they also have been critical of government’s policies that are often controversial and go against public interest,” Adi said.

Star-studded attendees

Muhammadiyah’s influence within Indonesia’s political sphere is evident from the attendees, with both Jokowi and Vice President Ma’ruf Amin making an appearance at the congress.

“The APEC summit wasn’t supposed to end until [Saturday] afternoon, but given how much I respect Muhammadiyah, I elected to make an early exit to see you all ladies and gentlemen,” Jokowi said in his speech at the muktamar on Saturday morning.

He was referring to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit taking place in Bangkok.

A number of Cabinet ministers and House of Representatives Speaker Puan Maharani of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) were also present at the congress.