Indonesia
Opening stage: A participant takes a photo in front of a banner for the 35th Nahdlatul Ulama National Congress (Muktamar NU) on Aug. 27 after the five-day conference opened at Untung Suropati Field in the sprawling complex of Pondok Pesantren Bahrul Ulum Tambakberas, an Islamic boarding school in Jombang regency, East Java. (Antara/Syaiful Arif)
Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) has decided to elect its next chairman indirectly through a council of senior clerics, abandoning the one-member-one-vote system as disagreements persisted ahead of the planned election of chairman of the country’s largest Muslim organization on Sunday night.The change was overwhelmingly approved during a plenary session at the group’s 35th national congress in Jombang, East Java, with 401 of 552 eligible delegates voting to have the Ahlul halli wal-aqdi (AHWA), a nine-member council of senior NU clerics, choose the group's chairman.
A total of 150 delegates voted to retain the direct voting system previously used to elect a chairman instead, while one ballot was declared invalid.
“With this, we have decided on the option for a change [in the voting system],” congress plenary chair Mohammad Nuh said on Sunday after announcing the result.
