Habibie receives greater support for ICMI chair<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Association of Indonesian Moslem
\nIntellectuals (ICMI) entered the second day of its congress
\noiling the machinery for the re-election of old chairman B.J.
\nHabibie.<\/p>\n
Plenary sessions as well as other items in the congress'
\nagenda saw even greater support for Habibie, who is also State
\nMinister of Research and Technology. For instance, it took the
\nplenary less than one minute yesterday to agree to accept
\nHabibie's account of duty.<\/p>\n
\"Shall we agree to accept his account?\" meeting chair
\nImaduddin Abdulrahim asked the 1,200 participants after Habibie
\nwas given the opportunity to clarify his report of duty, which he
\ndelivered on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The participants yelled in unison \"Agree!\". Some whistled.
\nImaduddin brought down a gavel, thus signifying the end of the
\n1990 - 1995 term of ICMI executive board under the leadership of
\nHabibie.<\/p>\n
Imaduddin led the gathering to shout Allahu Akbar (Allah is
\nGreat) three times, and in giving Habibie warm, lengthy applause.<\/p>\n
In the previous sessions, representatives from 36 regional
\nbranches here and abroad were given time to review the
\nperformance of ICMI for the past five years, and to criticize or
\npraise.<\/p>\n
Twenty-eight branches broke the congress' schedule and began
\nexpressing their conviction that Habibie should be re-elected.
\nThe remaining eight representatives at first tried to follow the
\nschedule and refrained from stating their preference for the top
\nman, but Habibie later urged them to do so.<\/p>\n
As widely expected, the representatives then took the
\nopportunity to declare their support for Habibie.<\/p>\n
In his speech yesterday, Habibie reminded the participants
\nthat he would like to follow procedures of the congress to the
\nletter. \"I appreciate your decision to nominate me. I respect
\nyour wish, but let's follow the regulations and let the congress
\ndecide,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Habibie said he did not mind should other names emerge as
\npotential leaders in the congress. \"If you want to name other
\npeople, please do, as long as you do it by the regulations, and
\nthat is electing those names at elections at units level,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Habibie obtained the most votes during all of the preliminary
\nelections at the level of 434 units and regional branches.<\/p>\n
Habibie said that the procedures and the mechanism for
\nleaders' elections have been established \"bottom-up\", and that
\nnothing was imposed from \"top-down\".<\/p>\n
Everything had been decided first by the meetings of the
\norganization's 434 regional branches and units, he said.<\/p>\n
He refuted suggestions that some top layers of the
\norganization have forced their will on the rest of the members.<\/p>\n
\"There are no top-down policies adopted by ICMI,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The congress then established the council of electorate
\nconsisting of 45 representatives from 36 regional branches and 9
\nfrom the outgoing executive board. Habibie, former minister of
\nenvironment Emil Salim, Haryanto Dhanutirto, who is also Minister
\nof Transportation, and Ahmad Watik Pratiknya, a senior official
\nat the Ministry of Education, were included in the council.<\/p>\n
The others were Muhammad Thohir, Muslimin Nasution, A.M.
\nLutfi, Mahmud Zaky and Yusuf Amir Faisal, and the representatives
\nof the 36 branches.<\/p>\n
The body met until late last night to choose seven people to
\nbecome a \"team of electorate\", which will then be entrusted with
\nthe task of establishing the line-up of the 1995 - 2000 executive
\nboard.<\/p>\n
Congress sources said the negotiations are likely to be tough,
\ndespite the fact that preliminary elections have established a
\nlist of names for the new executive board and other bodies.<\/p>\n
\"I believe, it wouldn't have to take long if only Habibie were
\nwilling to be a little more forceful with the rest of the
\ncouncil,\" he said. However, \"if Habibie chooses to be democratic,
\nit's going to be a lengthy process.\"<\/p>\n
Difficult negotiations may also take place because of the wish
\nto accommodate as many parties as possible, including those who
\nare critical of its outgoing leadership. Legislator A.M.
\nSaefuddin, who campaigned for Habibie to be replaced by Emil
\nSalim, for instance, is reportedly included in the organization's
\nboard of experts.<\/p>\n
\"Whatever the congress decides, I would be loyal to it, but my
\nstance doesn't necessarily mean that I would also be loyal to the
\nchosen chairman,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Politician Sri Bintang Pamungkas, who is a staunch critic of
\nthe government and member of the outgoing executive board, stole
\nthe show yesterday by appearing \"without being invited\". He met
\nHabibie in a separate room, and the two men chatted for a while.<\/p>\n
Bintang, however, told the press he did not support Habibie's
\nre-election. \"If Habibie chairs ICMI again, the organization will
\nbecome even more dependent on the bureaucracy,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"ICMI should be chaired by independent people like Imaduddin
\nor Dawam Rahardjo,\" he said. The last name he mentioned was also
\nmember of the outgoing board. (swe)<\/p>\n
Scholars -- Page 2<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/habibie-receives-greater-support-for-icmi-chair-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }