Vice President: Miftachul Akhyar's Resignation As Chairman Of MUI Is Not Final Yet

Indonesian Vice President Ma'ruf Amin. ANTARA/HO-BPMI Setwapres/am.

JAKARTA - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin stated that the application for the resignation of Rais Aam from the Nahdlatul Ulama (PBNU) Executive Board Miftachul Akhyar as General Chairperson of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) is not yet final.

"We'll see later, it's just a process, it's still being discussed at the MUI and still in the process of being discussed," said Vice President Ma'ruf Amin at the Cipinang Rice Main Market, East Jakarta, as reported by Antara, Friday, March 11.

Miftachul Akhyar stated that he was resigning from the position of General Chairperson of MUI when giving directions at the PBNU Syuriyah-Tanfidziyah Joint Meeting at Unusia Parung Campus, Bogor on Wednesday (9/3).

He reasoned that he resigned because he was mandated by the Ahlul halli wal Aqdi (Ahwa) Forum at the 34th NU Congress in Lampung in December 2021 so that he would not be allowed to hold concurrent positions.

"We'll just have to wait and see what results will be taken, we don't know whether to withdraw or not," said Ma'ruf.

The Ahwa Forum is a deliberations of nine senior NU kiai to elect Rais Aam PBNU for the 2022-2026 period at the NU Congress. At the 2021 NU Congress, Miftah was elected as Rais Aam PBNU for the period 2022-2026. However, the Ahwa Forum also agreed that Miftachul should not hold concurrent positions outside his mandate as Rais Aam.

In fact, Miftah's position as Chairman of the MUI was not even two years old. He was elected as the chairman of the MUI during the National Conference (Munas) X MUI on November 26, 2020.

Vice President Ma'ruf Amin himself is the chairman of the MUI Advisory Council for the 2020-2025 period. Ma'ruf was previously the General Chair of the 2015-2020 MUI.

Meanwhile, the current Deputy Minister of Religion, Zainut Tauhid Sa'adi, sits as Deputy Chair of the MUI Advisory Council.