Cak Imin Calls for Leadership Renewal at NU Ahead of 2026 Muktamar
Jakarta, VIVA – Muhaimin Iskandar, known as Cak Imin, chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB), has said that many figures are seeking improvement and renewal within Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) ahead of its 35th Congress in August 2026.
“We shall wait for the congress. But I have met all the figures, and everyone wants improvements after the failures of the current leadership. Renewal is absolutely necessary,” Cak Imin told reporters, quoted on Saturday, 18 July 2026.
Cak Imin explained that this aspiration had been conveyed to him because there was no other space for it to be voiced.
“As a cadre, I have been asked by many parties to voice this, because there is no room to convey it elsewhere — the opportunity happens to lie with me,” he explained.
According to Cak Imin, these improvements would be pursued through the replacement of the management and the leadership of the NU Central Board (PBNU) at the forthcoming congress.
“That is why I continue to convey the desire for change and improvement at PBNU through a genuine turnover to a new management that comes entirely from outside the current one,” he said.
As previously reported, the Chairman of the NU Central Board, Yahya Cholil Staquf, also known as Gus Yahya, has confirmed that preparations for the 35th NU Congress have entered their final stage.
He said that various concerns previously raised about the organisation of the congress had been successfully resolved.
Gus Yahya said the committee now only needed to finalise a number of technical details ahead of the congress, scheduled to take place on 27–31 August 2026 at the Bahrul Ulum Tambakberas Islamic boarding school in Jombang, East Java.
“I can say that everyone can rest assured because, God willing, the preparations have been carried out well. The things that were previously feared no longer exist,” Gus Yahya told reporters at the PBNU office in Central Jakarta, quoted on Wednesday, 15 July 2026.
Gus Yahya went on to explain that the choice of the Tambakberas boarding school as the congress venue carries special meaning for NU members, as the pesantren was founded by one of NU’s founders, KH Abdul Wahab Hasbullah.
He expressed confidence that the location would foster a conducive atmosphere so that the congress could run smoothly and produce beneficial decisions.
Gus Yahya expressed hope that the 35th NU Congress would proceed harmoniously and yield decisions bringing benefit not only to NU members but also to the Indonesian nation and humanity at large.