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Five Candidates Put Forward for NU Chair, While Three Others Are Eliminated
🇮🇩 Indonesia /Elections & Politics

Five Candidates Put Forward for NU Chair, While Three Others Are Eliminated

From CNN Indonesia · () Indonesian

Translated from Indonesian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • A plenary session of Nahdlatul Ulama’s 35th Congress approved five candidates for chair of its central executive board for the 2026-2031 term.
  • The five names will be submitted to the Rais Aam for written approval before the Ahlul Halli wal Aqdi selects one chair.
  • Three higher-vote candidates were excluded because they held political positions or had recently held party leadership roles.

Five names have emerged from Nahdlatul Ulama’s 35th Congress as candidates for the organization’s top executive post, but three other contenders were blocked by eligibility rules tied to political office.

The approved candidates are Abdul Hakim Mahfudz, known as Gus Kikin, who received 472 votes; Zulfa Mustofa, with 262; Abdussalam Sochib, with 261; Yahya Kholil Staquf, with 258; and Abdul Ghaffar Rozin, with 155. The decision came during Plenary Session V at Tambakberas Islamic boarding school in Jombang, East Java, early Monday.

Can the five candidates, based on the aspirations expressed by the delegates, be submitted to the Rais Aam for written approval?

— Prof. GanefriThe chair of Plenary Session V asked delegates to approve the submission of the five candidates.

The candidates must first be submitted to the Rais Aam for written approval. After receiving that approval, the Ahlul Halli wal Aqdi will deliberate and choose one person to lead the central executive board for the 2026-2031 service term.

Yes.

— Congress delegatesDelegates responded collectively to Ganefri’s question.

The excluded names included Nusron Wahid, who received 207 votes, Saifullah Yusuf, who received 174, and Yusuf Chudori, who received 176. Session chair Prof. Ganefri said Nusron and Saifullah could not run because they are serving ministers. Chudori had left his political party leadership position less than a year ago.

Ganefri said the rules require candidates to have served as PBNU daily executives or led an autonomous body or institution at the central level. They must not hold political office, including as a regional leader, minister or legislator. They also cannot have been party officials, or officials of party-affiliated organizations, during the previous year. Other requirements include having no prior organizational sanctions and obtaining written approval from the elected Rais Aam.

Apart from these names, the candidates do not meet the requirements and do not comply with the agreed rules because of their political positions.

— Prof. GanefriGanefri explained why three other candidates were excluded.
About this summary

Originally published by CNN Indonesia in Indonesian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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