Makassar, NU Online
Ahead of the presidential election on 8 July 2009, Muslimat NU has called on its followers to be responsible voters. The NU women organization has given full freedom to its followers in determining their political aspiration, but they should stay responsible and not do mistakes leading in turn to the detriment of NU.
General chairwoman of Muslimat NU Khofifah Indar Parawansa made the remarks on the sidelines of the Annual Meeting of Muslimat NU at the Sudiang's Dormitory Hajj, Makassar, South Sulawesi on Monday (1/6).<>
"In principle, Muslimat NU followers are free to choose but they should be smart and responsible voters," Khofifah told reporters.
Being smart voters, Khofifah said, should understand the track record of presidential and vice presidential candidate paying more attention to NU especially to Muslimat NU followers.
"If they (Muslimat NU followers: read) are smart, they will know those (presidential-vice presidential candidates) whose commitment to address the need of Muslimat, NU, and the ummah (people)," Khofifah said.
The Muslimat NU annual meeting was closed and resulted in some recommendations. One of the recommendations formulated through the Problem Deliberation "Bahtsul Masa'il" Commission was related to the presidential election momentum in which using the voting rights are compulsory for Muslimat NU followers as Indonesian citizens.
While chairwoman of the Problem Deliberation Commission Mursyidah Thahir said that "for Muslimat, electing a leader is obliged, that is a command of the Qur'an."
Mursyidah said that Muslimat NU followers were told to support presidential-vice presidential candidates based on the criteria stipulated in the annual meeting.
"The criteria are ideal measurements. If there is no ideal nominee, please elect the nominee whose the smallest destruction," the lecturer at the Jakarta's Qur'anic Science Institute said.
The decision made in the Problem Deliberation Commission was only for Muslimat NU followers rather than people in general. For that reason, she expected some 15 million followers of Muslim NU across the country to comply with the organization's decision.
The annual meeting stipulated criteria that should be possessed by an ideal leader for the nations. The criteria, among others, were a leader should be capable of quickly and firmly acting in handling the nation's problems, amanah (trustworthy / reliable), tabligh (informative and conveying the truth), siddiq (always telling the truth / honesty) and zuhud (asceticism).
In addition, the leader should be healthy both physically and mentally, smart, pious, fear of God (taqwa), responsible, have morality, competence and the courage to uphold the truth and take a stand against any crime (amar ma'ruf nahi munkar). (rif)
Ahead of the presidential election on 8 July 2009, Muslimat NU has called on its followers to be responsible voters. The NU women organization has given full freedom to its followers in determining their political aspiration, but they should stay responsible and not do mistakes leading in turn to the detriment of NU.
General chairwoman of Muslimat NU Khofifah Indar Parawansa made the remarks on the sidelines of the Annual Meeting of Muslimat NU at the Sudiang's Dormitory Hajj, Makassar, South Sulawesi on Monday (1/6).<>
"In principle, Muslimat NU followers are free to choose but they should be smart and responsible voters," Khofifah told reporters.
Being smart voters, Khofifah said, should understand the track record of presidential and vice presidential candidate paying more attention to NU especially to Muslimat NU followers.
"If they (Muslimat NU followers: read) are smart, they will know those (presidential-vice presidential candidates) whose commitment to address the need of Muslimat, NU, and the ummah (people)," Khofifah said.
The Muslimat NU annual meeting was closed and resulted in some recommendations. One of the recommendations formulated through the Problem Deliberation "Bahtsul Masa'il" Commission was related to the presidential election momentum in which using the voting rights are compulsory for Muslimat NU followers as Indonesian citizens.
While chairwoman of the Problem Deliberation Commission Mursyidah Thahir said that "for Muslimat, electing a leader is obliged, that is a command of the Qur'an."
Mursyidah said that Muslimat NU followers were told to support presidential-vice presidential candidates based on the criteria stipulated in the annual meeting.
"The criteria are ideal measurements. If there is no ideal nominee, please elect the nominee whose the smallest destruction," the lecturer at the Jakarta's Qur'anic Science Institute said.
The decision made in the Problem Deliberation Commission was only for Muslimat NU followers rather than people in general. For that reason, she expected some 15 million followers of Muslim NU across the country to comply with the organization's decision.
The annual meeting stipulated criteria that should be possessed by an ideal leader for the nations. The criteria, among others, were a leader should be capable of quickly and firmly acting in handling the nation's problems, amanah (trustworthy / reliable), tabligh (informative and conveying the truth), siddiq (always telling the truth / honesty) and zuhud (asceticism).
In addition, the leader should be healthy both physically and mentally, smart, pious, fear of God (taqwa), responsible, have morality, competence and the courage to uphold the truth and take a stand against any crime (amar ma'ruf nahi munkar). (rif)
