Pak Kiai the King Maker

K.H. Akhmad Khairun Nasihin, a spiritual mentor to SBY, is credited with finding Yusuf Kalla as a running mate for the presidential hopeful.

September 14, 2004

"YES, this must be the right one for Bambang Yudhoyono," mumbled the 35-year-old kiai (Islamic cleric) as he sized up Yusuf Kalla. It happened so suddenly. Kalla—then Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare—was relaxing at his official residence on Jalan Denpasar in Jakarta when K.H. Ahmad Khairun Nasihin alighted from a car and rushed into the house. Before Jusuf could say a word, the turbaned kiai took out a meter an

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