Gus Lilur Urges 35th NU Congress to Be Free from Intervention
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) member and village kiai from Situbondo, HRM Khalilur R Abdullah Sahlawiy, known as Gus Lilur, has asked President Prabowo Subianto to ensure that no party uses the president’s name or state facilities for personal political interests in the contest for PBNU leadership at the 35th NU Congress.
The 35th NU Congress has been scheduled to take place on 27–31 August 2026 at Bahrul Ulum Islamic Boarding School in Tambakberas, Jombang, East Java.
According to Gus Lilur, the request was made because he received information from a trusted source about an alleged movement attempting to influence the NU leadership succession process by involving a number of officials within government circles.
“As an NU member, I ask President Prabowo to ensure that no one uses his name for personal political ambitions in seizing the PBNU leadership,” Gus Lilur said in a statement on Tuesday, 18 August 2026.
Gus Lilur said the information he received points to an alleged network involving nine parties.
“The information I received is that they want KH Abdul Hakim Mahfudz, or Gus Kikin, as PBNU Chairman and KH Miftahul Akhyar as Rais Aam,” Gus Lilur said.
“Precisely because of that, I ask the President to intervene in the simplest sense: to ensure that none of his aides use the President’s name, state facilities, or the influence of their positions to interfere in NU’s internal affairs,” he added.
He considers the matter important because several names mentioned in the information do indeed hold government positions.
According to Gus Lilur, the overlapping relationship between positions in government and NU’s organisational structure must be safeguarded so that it does not turn into the use of state power to determine the leadership of a religious organisation.
“What I am questioning is not who the candidate for Chairman is or who becomes Rais Aam. Anyone may compete. But do not use state power to win a particular candidate,” he stressed.
Gus Lilur even questioned the motives behind the alleged movement. He suspects there is an interest in maintaining political positions through control of NU’s structure.