REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, Vice presidential candidate KH Ma'ruf Amin asked for support from Muhammadiyah in presidential election 2019. He also asked Muhammadiyah officials to pray for him.

Kiai Ma'ruf also bid farewell as chairman of Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI). He has been no longer in charge in MUI since accepting incumbent President Joko Widodo (Jokowi)'s offer to be his running mate.

"I come to bid farewell, hope for blessing, and ask for support," Kiai Ma'ruf who is also supreme leader of Nahdlatul Ulama said at Muhammadiyah office on Wednesday.

Chairman of Muhammadiah Haedar Nasir gave his blessing to Kiai Ma'ruf to run in the next year's election as Jokowi's running mate. He believed Kiai Ma'ruf has the same spirit with him in building the country.

However, Haedar asserted that Muhammadiyah would not turn into practical politics. Muhammadiyah, the second largest Islamic mass organization in Indonesia, would stick to its founding principles (khittah).

Haedar also stated that Muhammadiyah people are smart to choose their own political preference. "That's our stance," he reiterated.

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