SINCE its establishment on January 31, 1926, the Nahdlatul Ulama, or NU, has been known to be a part of political ebb and flow. As a religious organization, it once joined Masyumi, an Islamic political party, only to leave it in 1952.

During the first general elections in Indonesia in 1955, the NU managed to win 18.4 percent of the votes, coming in third place. It lost by a slim margin to the Masyumi Party, which won 20.9 percent of the votes. �