KH Miftachul Akhyar has retained his position as chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama supervisory board. Nine scholars were elected by congress participants to be the AHWA committee, with the task of choosing the chairman.
By
RINI KUSTIASIH/IQBAL BASYARI
·3 minutes read
Kompas
KH Miftachul Akhyar
LAMPUNG, KOMPAS — KH Miftachul Akhyar has retained his position as chairman (Rais Aam) of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) supervisory board for the 2021-2026 period.
Re-elected during the 34th NU Congress in Lampung, Miftachul is expected to face huge challenges in skippering the organization into its second century. The ongoing congress coincides with NU’s 95th anniversary, it was founded on Jan. 31, 1926.
The election process of the supervisory board chairman began on Thursday night (23/12/2021) through the ahlul halli wal aqdi (AHWA) system.
Nine scholars were elected by congress participants to be the AHWA committee, with the task of choosing the chairman. They were KH Mustofa Bisri, KH Ma'ruf Amin, KH Miftachul Akhyar, TG Turmudzi Badaruddin, KH Anwar Manshur, KH Nurul Huda Jazuli, KH Dimyati Rois, KH Ali Akbar M and KH Zainal Abidin.
On Friday at 1 a.m., the results of the AHWA deliberation, led by KH Ma'ruf Amin, were announced. "The AHWA has agreed on KH Miftachul Akhyar as Rais Aam for 2021-2026," KH Zainal Abidin, a member of the AHWA, said.
He said there had been no dissenting opinion regarding the election of the Rais Aam. In addition, he said, the AHWA agreed that the Rais Aam should hold no other positions.
After the election of the Rais Aam, the congress program continued with the election of the executive board chairman. The congress agreed that the election be carried out by consensus. If consensus was not reached, the election would go to a vote. Regional and branch administrations and a special overseas administration had one vote each.
BPMI SEKRETARIAT PRESIDEN
President Joko Widodo, Vice President Ma'ruf Amin (second from left), Rais Aam NU KH Miftachul Akhyar (third from right), PBNU General Chairperson KH Said Aqil Siraj (second from right), and Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas beat a rebana (tambourine) sign. the start of the NU congress in Lampung, Wednesday (12/22/2021).
On Thursday afternoon, incumbent chairman KH Said Aqil Siroj said he was optimistic about his re-election in the face of a challenge from KH Yahya Cholil Staquf, who was equally optimistic about his chances.
"I was born to be optimistic, never pessimistic," Said Aqil said when asked by reporters about the issue. He said his optimism was based on the acceptance by the congress of his accountability reports for his 2015-2021 term.
Yahya claimed to have the support of 447 voters, 80 percent of the total vote. He said his consolidation meeting on Tuesday had been proof of his voting weight and believed that those who had come would vote for him.
Challenges ahead
Sukron Kamil, a professor in the School of Literature and Humanities at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) Jakarta, said the elected Rais Aam and executive chairman would face great challenges, especially in regard to the economy, education and politics.
He said NU had to step up efforts and strengthen its philanthropic movement to achieve economic sustainability among the community in order to survive any situations.
Pointing out that many NU members came from educational institutions at home and abroad, he said education needed to be improved with a focus of attention also on strengthening pesantren (Islamic boarding school) institutions so that they continued to exist in the post-founders era.
He also saw the need for NU, a socio-religious organization, to keep its distance from politics and reminded the members in power to optimize their roles.
