SPs Theater Room UIN Jakarta, SPs NEWS - The Graduate School (SPs) of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta held the 2815th Thesis Exam at the SPs Theater Room of UIN Jakarta on Monday, July 13, 2026 with candidate Muhammad Farih Ramdlani.

Farih is a student of the Master of Islamic Studies program with a concentration in Political Science. His thesis is entitled "Shifting Patron-Client Relations of NU and PKB: A Study on the Relationship between PWNU and DPW PKB East Java in 2022-2025".

This thesis dissects how the friendly relationship between Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and the National Awakening Party (PKB) began to crack. Using socio-political analysis knives such as the theory of patronage, authority, and the concept of symbolic capital and habitus à la Pierre Bourdieu, this research tries to unravel the tangled threads behind the scenes of the conflict between the two institutions.

East Java was deliberately chosen as the main locus of research because this region is the epicenter or heart of the largest socio-political base defense for NU and PKB. Through a strict case study method, Farih explored primary data from in-depth interviews with core administrators and strategic actors in the NU Regional Management (PWNU) and the East Java PKB Regional Management Board (DPW).

Through thematic analysis, this research brings a bold argument that the relationship between political parties and their parent organizations in the contemporary political landscape has been drastically transformed. Relationships that were once mutualistic or mutually beneficial, have now shifted into an asymmetrical pattern of patronage, where there is an imbalance of power and a sharp tug-of-war between the two.

One of the things that is most highlighted in this thesis is the impact of the deparpolization policy rolled out by PBNU under the current leadership. This policy deliberately breaks the linear formal legitimacy that has been enjoyed by PKB, thus creating a firm structural distance between the cultural management of NU and its political wing.

However, PKB under the care of its politicians did not stay silent to lament the termination of relations. This party responded by rearticulating legitimacy, which is a strategy of "resistance" by utilizing the symbolic capital of NU and relying on a network  of dual solemn  cadres—those who are active in the NU structure as well as being the driving force of PKB at the grassroots level.

This unique dynamic gave birth to a new sociological phenomenon in East Java, which in this thesis is referred to as the era of "coexistence without formal collaboration". These two entities appear to have their own paths and often clash at the level of the structural elite, but organically at the lower level, they maintain functional cohesion in order to maintain the same mass base.

Theoretically, the results of Muhammad Farih Ramdlani's research also criticize the famous thesis of Indonesianist Greg Fealy (2016) regarding the flexibility of NU's political accommodationism. Farih proved that under the current leadership style of NU, this organization actually shows a more confrontational-structural tendency in dealing with practical political dynamics.

Farih successfully defended her thesis under the guidance of Prof. Ali Munhanif, MA, Ph.D, and was tested in front of a board of examiners consisting of Prof. Dr. Yusuf Rahman, MA, Prof. Ali Munhanif, MA, Ph.D, M. Zaki Mubarak, M.Si, Ph.D, Dr. Suryani, M.Si.

After paying attention to the thesis writing, the comments of the examiner team and the candidate's answers, the examiner team determined that Muhammad Farih Ramdlani graduated with the title of Very Satisfactory. Muhammad Farih Ramdlani is the 2815th Master in the field of Islamic Studies, in the Master's program of the Graduate School of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta. (Jay A)