NU Elders' Meeting Ahead of Munas and Konbes Seen as Defusing PBNU Tensions
Katib Syuriyah PCNU Jombang for the 2017-2022 period, Ahmad Samsul Rijal, known as Gus Rijal, stated that the appeal issued by 13 senior NU clerics at the Al-Falah Ploso Islamic Boarding School in Kediri, East Java, on 4 Muharam 1448 H (20 June 2026) has served as an anticlimax to the heated situation surrounding the NU National Conference (Konbes) and Congress (Munas) prior to their opening. He assessed that the meeting successfully defused tensions between factions within the Nahdlatul Ulama Executive Board (PBNU).
The appeal addressed several key issues, including opposition to the proposed requirements and mechanisms for electing members of the A’wan Hall (AHWA) based on Syuriyah structures and zoning, as well as the matter of concurrent positions for the General Chairman. The clerics also called for strengthening NU’s roots by returning the congress venue to Islamic boarding schools and emphasised the importance of organisational ethics to maintain unity during deliberations.
Gus Rijal further noted that the outcome of the meeting of the 13 senior clerics at the residence of KH M. Abdurrohman Al-Kautsar was a harsh rebuke to those seeking to exploit the NU organisation for personal and factional interests. He observed that such intentions were blatantly visible in the designed draft materials and the strict, directed patterns of the Konbes and Munas implementation.
He explained that one of the inserted materials that drew the clerics’ attention was the issue of concurrent positions for functionaries. This norm was intended to allow the incoming PBNU General Chairman to hold a political position in government, specifically as a minister.
“Currently, the NU cadres who are ministers and have the potential to be named as candidates for PBNU General Chairman include Prof. Nasaruddin Umar, Saifullah Yusuf, Nusron Wahid, and Gus M. Irfan Yusuf. All of them are part of the government or hold power and have closeness to the palace. This potential, combined with their stature as NU cadres, is being used to seize the highest position in PBNU,” Gus Rijal stated on Sunday, 21 June 2026.
Gus Rijal clarified that the insertion of the concurrent positions issue for discussion and decision at the 2026 Konbes and Munas in Ploso, Kediri, was aimed at altering the limitations in the NU Bylaws (ART) which stipulate that certain positions within the NU structure may not be held concurrently with political office, one of which is the position of Minister.