NU’s National Politics and the Political Iddah Period

Debate over a “political iddah” period at Nahdlatul Ulama’s 35th Congress has reopened a larger question: how should the major Islamic organization engage with practical politics without becoming tied to any party?

The congress, held in Tambakberas, Jombang, East Java, approved a one-year cooling-off period from political office for candidates for Rais Aam and the chairman of the NU Executive Board. The rule is linked to NU’s organizational regulations, which previously provided for a break from political positions. Before the decision was finalized, the requirement became a source of dispute at the congress, with the session leadership stating that candidates for chairman had to complete the one-year period.

The measure, according to the argument presented, should not prevent NU cadres from entering politics. Instead, it should create distance between practical political power and the independence of the religious organization. A cadre who has been active in a political party would have time to set aside immediate party interests before taking a strategic position within NU.

The issue is therefore not whether NU members may become politicians, but whether politicians can enter the organization’s leadership without bringing party agendas with them. Members may work through PKB, PPP, Golkar, Gerindra, PDI Perjuangan, PKS, NasDem, Demokrat, PAN and other parties. Their varied political choices, the article argues, reinforce the need for NU itself not to belong to any single party.

This view places NU above electoral competition, with a longer religious and national mandate than the power-seeking agenda of political parties. Its relationship with parties should be dialogical rather than subordinate, allowing NU to provide moral direction to its members while maintaining organizational independence. The organization’s history, including its past as a political party, remains closely linked to Indonesia’s political dynamics.