Gus Yahya Considers PBNU Plenary And Violating AD/ART

PBNU General Chair Yahya Cholil Staquf at the PBNU office, Jakarta, Tuesday (9/12/2025). BETWEEN/Asep Firmansyah

JAKARTA - PBNU General Chair Yahya Cholil Staquf responded to the plenary plan initiated by Syuriyah PBNU at The Sultan Hotel, Jakarta, on Tuesday night. According to him, the forum was invalid and violated the organization's AD/ART.

The rules cannot be called plenary. Because first, only Syuriyah invited and it can't be. Because the plenary session must be invited by Syuriyah and Tanfidizyah. The second does not involve me as the General Chair of the Executive Board," said Gus Yahya as quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, December 9.

Gus Yahya said PBNU's plenary Syuriyah was only a political maneuver, especially since he was carrying out organizational transformation. According to him, there are parties who do not like the transformation.

He emphasized that De Facto and De Jure, he will continue to serve as General Chair of PBNU. If you want to remove it, it must go through an organizational AD/ART mechanism, namely a congress.

Thus, he said, the plenary meeting which would appoint an official (Pj) of the General Chairperson of PBNU to replace him was invalid.

"That whatever people want to stop me without a congress, without the highest deliberation forum it is impossible to execute because it is against the AD / ART and against the law," said Gus Yahya.

Gus Yahya also emphasized that the plenary meeting to be held previously received rejection from the elderly kiai. All problems that occur within PBNU should be resolved through open deliberation.

"The elderly kiai also said firmly that (pleno) was against the AD/ART, so yes, we'll see this (pleno) as just a maneuver," he said.

Previously, Syuriyah, the Nahdlatul Ulama (PBNU) Executive Board tonight will hold a plenary meeting which begins with joint prayers and donations for victims of floods and landslides in Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra.

The points that will be decided in the Plenary Meeting are the appointment of an official (Pj) of the General Chairperson of PBNU replacing Yahya Cholil Staquf.