Ahead of NU Congress, Alissa Wahid: No Longer Relevant to Use Gus Dur as Mere Jargon

The eldest daughter of Indonesia’s 4th President, the late KH Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur), Alissa Wahid, hopes that the 35th Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Congress in Tambak Beras, Jombang, East Java, at the end of this month can proceed smoothly and produce leadership capable of steering the organisation in a better direction.

According to her, efforts to reduce Gus Dur to mere jargon are no longer relevant. What is far more important is to preserve and emulate Gus Dur’s thought and conduct. “For me, it is no longer relevant to use Gus Dur as jargon. The most important thing is that the example of Gus Dur lies in his thought and conduct,” she said in Magelang recently.

She believes that the values Gus Dur once championed should be realised in concrete action, one of which is the courage to fight injustice and oppression.

She stressed that NU’s alignment with ordinary people is also an important value that needs to be strengthened once again.

According to her, the substance to be discussed at the NU Congress has essentially been prepared, from the outcomes of the National Deliberation of Religious Scholars and the NU Grand Conference in Ploso to a number of agendas related to the organisation’s future programmes.

“My hope for the upcoming NU Congress is a process that runs well to produce good leadership. That is my main hope,” she said recently.

She explained that a number of substantive agendas have been prepared, including the planned launch of the NU 2050 Roadmap as well as discussions on organisational governance. According to her, the most important thing at the NU Congress is to ensure that the entire process runs properly and democratically so that it produces leadership in line with the expectations of NU members.

“What we certainly hope for is that the process at the congress is a good process to produce good leadership. The issues that emerged previously must serve as lessons,” she said.