PBNU Grants Dispensation for Papuan Participants at 35th Congress

The Nahdlatul Ulama Executive Board (PBNU) will provide special rules for regional and branch administrators in Papua during the 35th NU Congress. The policy was granted considering the security conditions and the specificity of autonomy in Papua. PBNU Secretary-General Saifullah Yusuf stated that the special policy was the result of a PBNU joint meeting decision. “All regions and branches in Tanah Papua have been decided in the joint meeting to be given a special policy. Because there is special autonomy there, we are giving what is called a special policy,” he said at the Ministry of Social Affairs office in Jakarta on Friday, 24 July 2026. The man familiarly called Gus Ipul explained that one form of the special policy is providing flexibility for administrators in Papua to participate in the congress in a hybrid manner. This scheme allows some participants to attend the conference face-to-face, while other participants can join online if conditions do not permit everyone to attend in person. “So there is a possibility of holding a hybrid conference, with some attending offline and some online. That is like the special policy,” said Saifullah. He stressed that the policy only applies to regions and branches in Tanah Papua. The step was taken so that all stages leading up to the congress can proceed without ignoring the local situation and conditions. The 35th NU Congress will be held on 27-30 August 2026 at the Tambakberas Islamic Boarding School in Jombang, East Java. The highest consultative forum of Nahdlatul Ulama, held every five years, will be attended by approximately 3,300 regional and branch administrators. The forum’s outcomes will determine the organisation’s direction and programmes, as well as establish a new leadership, including the Rais Aam and the General Chairman of PBNU. Several names of candidates for the General Chairman of PBNU have also begun to circulate. These include the current General Chairman, Yahya Cholil Staquf, as the incumbent. Also emerging are the names of Minister of Religious Affairs Nasaruddin Umar, the head of Mamba’ul Ma’arif Islamic Boarding School, Abdussalam Shohib, and the head of the Tegalrejo Islamic Boarding School, Muhammad Yusuf Chudlori.