TEMPO.CO, Jakarta- Only in a ten-minute election process involving 13 formators, Muhammadiyah successfully elected its new executive board general chairman Dr Haedar Nashir during its congress in Makassar, South Sulawesi, Thursday, August 6.

Haedar Nashir, born in Bandung, West Java, is currently a senior lecturer in the Muhammadiyah University, Yogyakarta, will lead one of the country’s major Muslim organizations for the period of 2015-2020, election committee chairman Dahlan Rais said in Makassar on Thursday evening.

Haedar Nashir replaces his predecessor Prof Din Syamsuddin who served as the Muhammadiyah general chairman for two periods.

During its 47th national congress, which began on August 3 to 7, Muhammadiyah has formulate a new agenda for the next five years as earlier expected by its two-term chairman, Din Syamsuddin.

Soon after being elected through the brief election, Nasir said he will try to build the Muhammadiyah as a dynamic organization in order to become more advanced and modern in the mission changes.

"In the next five years, we will build a dynamic Muhammadiyah to become brighter," he pointed out.

According Nashir, Muhammadiyah also sees three major problems in the future life namely the virtue, nationality, and humanity.

Established in 1912, Muhammadiyah, the socioreligious organization in Indonesia, aims at adapting Islam to modern Indonesian life.

Establishment of the organization was chiefly inspired by an Egyptian reform movement, led by Muhammad Abduh, which had tried to bring the Muslim faith in harmony with modern rational thoughts.

ANTARA