Gus Yahya Talks About The Reasons For Advancing To Become A Candidate For Chairman Of The PBNU

JAKARTA - Katib Aam Nahdlatul Ulama (PBNU) Executive Board KH Yahya Cholil Staquf or Gus Yahya mentioned that one of the reasons he stepped forward as chairman of PBNU was to revive Gus Dur's ideals, visions and ideals.

"The reason for nominating as general chairman of PBNU is the right moment to bring back Gus Dur," said Gus Yahya after reviewing the book Living Gus Dur's Life (KH Yayha Cholil Staquf's Memories Note) in Jakarta, quoted by Antara, Sunday, December 19.

According to Gus Yahya, the ideals, visions and ideals of KH Abdurrahman Wahid or Gus Dur are still relevant today. Sociologically, he sees it will still be relevant for decades to come.

"The problem is, Gus Dur is gone, but we still need a hurricane," he said.

Gus Yahya explained that what was needed was to build something that could substitute for Gus Dur's presence. This can be done with an organizational-based construction.

"NU is the most appropriate medium for rebuilding," said Gus Yahya.

Gus Yahya stated that seeing the dynamics both domestically and internationally, what Gus Dur had originally initiated and fought for turned out to be very relevant to the current momentum.

"We see that many people express their longing for Gus Dur," he said.

In terms of organizational construction, Gus Yahya assessed that there had been no real effort to revive Gus Dur

When entrusted as chairman of PBNU, Gus Yahya said there were many ways to revive Gus Dur, for example building a national agenda which was outlined in programs that had to be implemented by NU instruments down to the branch level.

"This is Gus Dur's idea, but it has never been built through a proper strategy," he said.

According to Gus Yahya, Gus Dur once had the idea to build a People's Credit Bank (BPR) down to the sub-district level by utilizing the NU instrument network.

The 34th Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) congress is scheduled for 22-23 December 2021 in Lampung. The two candidates who are expected to compete are Katib Aam, Nahdlatul Ulama Executive Board (PBNU) KH Yahya Cholil Staquf or Gus Yahya and the current general chairman of PBNU KH Said Aqil Siroj.

It is estimated that the NU congress was attended by 2,295 participants from 34 PWNU (102 people), 521 PCNU (1,563 people), 31 PCINU (93 people), as well as 14 autonomous bodies (42 people) and 18 institutions (54 people) at the central level. In addition, PBNU delegates from syuriyah elements (32 people), mustasyar (15 people), a'wan (20 people), and tanfidziyah (38 people) added the number of committee members as many as 336 people.