"I reiterate that the executive board of the Nahdlatul Ulama is now unfilled. The organization still exists, but it will not have leaders till a congress is held again," K. H. Hasyim Muzadi said.
Malang, East Java (ANTARA News) - The Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) will not have a leadership till a new congress is held to elect "legal candidates" for the general chairmanship position, a former general chairman of the organization said.

"I reiterate that the executive board of the Nahdlatul Ulama is now unfilled. The organization still exists, but it will not have leaders till a congress is held again," K. H. Hasyim Muzadi, the former general chairman, told newsmen at his residence in the Al-Hikam Islamic Boarding School complex, here on Thursday.

He explained that regional chapters and branches have the legal right to organize a congress again because the one held in Jombang, which ended recently, did not comply with regulations and procedures and was disorderly. It was legally flawed because organizational procedures were not carried out normally.

Considering this situation, Muzadi emphasized that while there was no leadership, no figure was allowed to act on behalf of the NUs supervisory board.

Moreover, he admitted that he had rejected to be named the chief of the supervisory board by 29 regional chapters, even though the number met the required quorum, stating, "If I agree, the NU will break up."

Although 29 regional chapters had left the congress to join the Salahuddin Wahid group in Tebuireng, Muzadi denied that the NU had split because no rival congress had been held.

What happened was a movement to purify the organization from ideologies that would damage its faith and politicians adventurous acts, he added.

"This movement will be accepted by the NU because all chapters and branches witnessed for themselves the way the congress was held. Participants were treated unfairly; meetings were engineered; and clerics were treated harshly. The message is that all NU members know how dangerous an infiltration can be," he remarked.

Furthermore, Muzadi expressed his appreciation of Mustofa Bisris decision to reject his nomination for the position of the supervisory board chief, which indicated that he did not want to hold the post through a fake process.

He also expressed his disappointment over the congress and noted, "Regional chapters and branches have an obligation to hold another congress posthaste, ensuring that it is constitutional."

The NU congress that ended on Wednesday, August 5, named KH. Maruf Amin as the new chairman of the organizations supervisory board and incumbent KH. Said Aqil Sirodj as the executive chairman for 2015-2020. (*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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