Amien and colleagues admit to divisions over Soeharto's move<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Leading government critic Amien Rais and his
\nfriends expressed outrage over President Soeharto's Tuesday
\nmeeting with nine Moslem leaders, a move they admitted had sowed
\ndivision among "reformists".<\/p>\n
Adi Sasono and Dawam Rahardjo, both activists of the
\nAssociation of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI), A. Syafii
\nMaarif of the Muhammadiyah Moslem organization and other
\nactivists agreed with Amien that the nine did not represent the
\nmajority of Indonesians who wanted to see Soeharto resign.<\/p>\n
They were concerned that the meeting -- in which Soeharto
\nagreed to a number of concessions, including the organization of
\ngeneral elections as soon as possible in which he would not run
\nagain -- might even create divisions in society.<\/p>\n
The nine figures summoned by Soeharto included Moslem scholar
\nNurcholish Madjid, poet Emha Ainun Nadjib, constitutional law
\nexpert Yusril Ihza Mahendra, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) chairman
\nAbdurrahman Wahid and deputy chairman of the Indonesian Council
\nof Ulemas (MUI) Ali Yafie. The other four were also
\nrepresentatives of Moslem organizations, including Malik Fadjar
\nfrom Muhammadiyah.<\/p>\n
"That meeting was a manipulative maneuver, aimed at
\nobstructing the moves of reformists," Dawam said. "Our goal is
\nthat Soeharto must step down...(the meeting) was a ploy in which
\nreligion was used for political purposes.<\/p>\n
"There are other communities in the country, not only Moslems.
\nWhy weren't they invited?" Dawam said.<\/p>\n
"That ploy won't work ... because Soeharto's administration no
\nlonger has legitimacy," Adi said. "(Soeharto's promise to lead
\nreform) will not work because how can reform be conducted by
\nthose who know nothing about reform?"<\/p>\n
Adi again expressed anger at what he charged was the
\nexploitation of religious issues for Soeharto's political
\ninterests. "This is the problem of our nation, not of only a
\nsingle group in the community," he said.<\/p>\n
"We support Amien Rais not because he's the chairman of
\nMuhammadiyah, but because he has been the most outspoken in his
\ndemands for Soeharto's resignation.<\/p>\n
"Speaking both personally and as a member of ICMI, I am
\ncalling on all elements of the nation to facilitate change (in
\nthe national leadership)," he said.<\/p>\n
Following the meeting with Soeharto, Nurcholish visited Amien
\nat the Muhammadiyah headquarters in Central Jakarta where they
\nheld a media briefing together. Nurcholish defended his and the
\nothers' decision to attend the meeting with Soeharto, saying they
\nwere "summoned" by the President, as opposed to angling for an
\ninvitation or going there without a summons.<\/p>\n
Islam teaches that "a bad ulema is one who goes to the
\npalace," Nurcholish said, "but we were summoned, meaning that the
\npower holder who summoned us needed our advise."<\/p>\n
At the end of the day, however, Amien agreed that it was no
\nuse to blame any fellow friends who had been involved in the
\ncampaign for reform. "We need to find common ground and
\ncontinue," he said.<\/p>\n
ABRI<\/p>\n
Adi Sasono and Amien Rais also agreed that the ball of change
\nwas now in the Armed Forces' (ABRI) court. Reiterating that the
\nonly solution to the country's crisis was Soeharto's immediate
\nresignation, Amien said that it was now ABRI which was in the
\nposition to decide whether a succession would take place.<\/p>\n
"ABRI has to decide now," Amien said.<\/p>\n
"The people cannot be beaten, run over or hit over and over,"
\nAdi said. "The choices for ABRI are clear. ABRI can either take
\nthe side of the people and decide the fate of this nation, or
\ntake the side of a government which is corrupt and will surely
\ncrumble."<\/p>\n
Amien said he planned to meet with ABRI leaders as soon as
\npossible and learn their stance concerning the crisis. "I will
\nmeet them (not as a government critic, but) as a child of this
\nnation," he said. (swe)<\/p>",
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