NU Encouraged to Capitalize on Socioeconomic Potentials
President Jokowi said that economic empowerment was not an easy job, but it was surmountable if all the resource potentials and strengths of the NU community could be woven together.
By
Kompas Team
·5 minutes read
Kompas/Hendra A Setyawan
President Joko Widodo was accompanied by Vice President KH Ma'ruf Amin (left), Rais Am Executive Board of Nahdlatul Ulama (PB NU) KH Miftachul Akhyar (second from right) and General Chairperson of PB NU KH Said Aqil Siroj (right) at the opening of the congress. 34 Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) at the DaarussaÕadah Islamic Boarding School, Central Lampung Regency, Lampung, Wednesday (12/22/2021). The 34th NU congress will be held until Friday (12/24/2021).
President Jokowi officially opened the 34th Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) National Congress (Muktamar) in Lampung to discuss strategic issues in "bahtsul masail", during which supervisory board chairman Rais Aam was also appointed as the executive board chairman.
CENTRAL LAMPUNG, KOMPAS — President “Jokowi” Widodo hailed the mass religious organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) for its enormous socioeconomic potentials that could be exploited to help realize the aspiration to create a self-sustaining people’s economy.
NU's potential resources, if managed properly, could become the locomotive of national welfare development.
In education, NU had groomed many young intellectuals, students and graduates of major universities at home and abroad, which the President regarded as a potential driving force for the organization to seize future challenges and opportunities in the face of the rapid advancements in information technology.
"If [NU's potentials] is woven together, it can turn into a powerful locomotive that can pull the cars of [development] en masse for the welfare of us all," President Jokowi said in his speech during the opening ceremony held on Wednesday (22/12/2021) at Pondok Pesantren (Islamic boarding school) Darussa’adah in Central Lampung regency, Lampung.
Amid the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic, the health protocols are being implemented at the event involving 1,959 participants, which comprise central board members and representatives of the organization’s regional branches, as well as its special overseas branch.
The congress, which runs until 24 Dec., is themed "Towards a Century of NU: Building Self-sustainable Communities for World Peace". Amid the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic, the health protocols are being implemented at the event involving 1,959 participants, which comprise central board members and representatives of the organization’s regional branches, as well as its special overseas branch.
President Jokowi said that economic empowerment was not an easy job, but it was surmountable if all the resource potentials and strengths of the NU community could be woven together.
He also extended his appreciation to NU for its contribution to Covid-19 mitigation efforts as well as for being a guardian of pluralism, Pancasila, the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia, and nationalism.
Five elements of prosperity
NU expressed its reciprocal appreciation to the government for the Indonesia Vision 2045, which aligned with the views of santri (Muslim students) and Pesantren (Islamic boarding schools), according to NU executive board chairman K.H. Said Aqil Siroj.
He said the vision was congruent with the “five elements of prosperity” that was the source of the nation’s pride.
The five elements, he said, were social resources, cultural wealth, sovereignty in global interactions, abundant natural resources, and political dynamism.
Kompas/Hendra A Setyawan
President Joko Widodo was accompanied by Vice President KH Ma'ruf Amin (left), Rais Am Executive Board of Nahdlatul Ulama (PB NU) KH Miftachul Akhyar (second from right) and General Chairperson of PB NU KH Said Aqil Siroj (right) at the opening of the congress. 34 Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) at the DaarussaÕadah Islamic Boarding School, Central Lampung Regency, Lampung, Wednesday (12/22/2021). The 34th NU congress will be held until Friday (12/24/2021).
Referring to Indonesia as the third largest democracy and the largest Muslim country [sic] in the world, he emphasized that it was founded as a secular state based on Pancasila that accommodated all religions.
Said also pointed out that Islam went hand in hand with democracy and progress in helping to create political stability and economic growth.
Speaking about the country’s abundant resources, he called for improved efforts to develop human resources for transforming natural wealth into development capital.
Equitable distribution of development is an absolute requisite for creating peace.
“The government's policy orientation is development as well as distribution. We cannot boost growth without paying attention to inequity. Equitable distribution of development is an absolute requisite for creating peace," he said.
Separately, Muhammadiyah chairman Haedar Nasir expressed his hope that the 34th NU Muktamar would generate consensus that contributed significantly to the wellbeing and progress of NU and its community, but also the people as a whole, the nation and global humanity.
Haedar said he believed that NU had the resources to advance further, move independently, and maintain its peacekeeping role amid the dynamics of community, nationalism and universal humanity.
Separately, Vice President Ma'ruf Amin, in his remarks during the book launch of Historiografi Khittah dan NU Politik by K.H. Ahmad Baso, appealed to the participants of the NU congress to uphold its khittah (guiding principle) on preventing the organization from becoming a political vehicle.
Chairmanship candidates
Apart from discussing strategic issues in the “bahtsul masail” forum, the NU congress also held an election for a new supervisory board chairman as well as and executive board chairman. Voting takes place on Thursday evening.
Said, as the incumbent executive board chair, faces a challenge from supervisory board secretary-general K.H. Yahya Cholil Staquf, with each camp claiming majority support.
Kompas/Hendra A Setyawan
President Joko Widodo was accompanied by Vice President KH Ma'ruf Amin (left), Rais Am Executive Board of Nahdlatul Ulama (PB NU) KH Miftachul Akhyar (second from right) and General Chairperson of PB NU KH Said Aqil Siroj (right) at the opening of the congress. 34 Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) at the DaarussaÕadah Islamic Boarding School, Central Lampung Regency, Lampung, Wednesday (12/22/2021). The 34th NU congress will be held until Friday (12/24/2021).
Imdadun Rahmat, the director of the Said Aqil Siroj Institute, said that 364 participants, or 62 percent of all votes, had pledged their support for Said’s bid to retain his leadership.
Meanwhile, the Yahya camp claimed it had garnered support from 474 participants, or 80 percent of all votes, and that he had met them in person.
Luluk Nur Hamidah, a House of Representatives (DPR) lawmaker from the National Awakening Party faction, in a discussion on "NU, Women and the Welfare of the Nation" organized by Forum Perempuan Muktamar (Women’s Forum Muktamar), expressed her hope that the congress would raise women’s issues.
She said that political parties and elements of society had been striving for 17 years for the ratification of the Sexual Violence Bill (TPKS) and the Domestic Worker Protection Bill (PPRT).
"We hope that the TPKS and the PPRT bills will also be discussed at the congress, which begins its plenary session tomorrow [Thursday]," she said.
