ICMI accepts resignation from Amien<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Critical Moslem scholar Amien Rais relinquished
\nhis leading position within the influential Association of
\nIndonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI) yesterday, vowing to
\ncontinue to speak out against injustices and for democratization.<\/p>\n
A plenary meeting led by organization chairman B.J. Habibie
\ndecided yesterday to \"accept\" Amien's resignation as chairman of
\nthe association's Council of Experts, and to make him a member of
\nthe Board of Advisors under noted ulema Ali Yafie.<\/p>\n
The decision came on the heels of widespread speculation that
\nAmien was forced to resign because of his critical stance on
\nseveral government policies.<\/p>\n
\"I'll continue to speak out against injustices and maintain my
\nconcern for democratization,\" said Amien, who is chairman of the
\n28-million-strong Muhammadiyah Moslem organization and a politics
\nlecturer at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
\"You should remember that I was the one who raised the issue
\nof the national leadership succession in 1993 when most political
\nexperts and leaders were still sleeping,\" he said.<\/p>\n
At a press conference after a plenary meeting of the central
\nexecutive board yesterday, Habibie said: \"ICMI can understand and
\naccept Amien Rais' resignation from his current position as
\nchairman of ICMI's Council of Experts.\"<\/p>\n
Habibie said Amien had requested to resign from his post last
\nyear, citing his heavy workload at Muhammadiyah which had made it
\ndifficult for him to function effectively at ICMI.<\/p>\n
Habibie said Amien had told him that he wished to resign in
\norder to make the association work more efficiently and be more
\nproductive.<\/p>\n
Habibie said the association would decide on Amien's
\nreplacement at another plenary meeting. However, he said last
\nweek it was likely that Fuad Bawazier, a member of the
\nassociation's board of advisors and Director General for Taxes,
\nwould take Amien's place.<\/p>\n
\"It's natural the replacement will also come from
\nMuhammadiyah,\" Habibie said, pointing out that the association
\ncomprises representatives of Moslem groups in proportionate
\nnumbers.<\/p>\n
\"It's been deliberated and decided so,\" said Habibie, who was
\naccompanied by political observer Afan Gaffar, another member of
\nthe Council of Experts.<\/p>\n
Habibie dismissed suggestions that the association had sought
\nthe blessing of its patron, President Soeharto, for a new
\nchairman of the council.<\/p>\n
Soeharto, who is patron of the association in a personal
\ncapacity, reportedly leaves decisions on such matters to the
\nassociation.<\/p>\n
Free<\/p>\n
Amien, who spoke separately from Habibie's press conference,
\ntold reporters he had been unable to make the Council of Experts
\nbe more active because he had to tend to his duties at
\nMuhammadiyah and at the university.<\/p>\n
\"I am glad that I am now free from such a leading but time-
\nconsuming position,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said that leaving his post on the Council of Experts would
\nnot mean he was abandoning ICMI altogether.<\/p>\n
\"I'm still a member of the association and I will still sit on
\nits board of advisors as a member,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He strove to dismiss speculation of political motives being
\nbehind his transfer to a lower position.<\/p>\n
\"I just don't want to ruin the increasingly dynamic activities
\nof ICMI because of my incapacity to manage my time for ICMI, for
\nMuhammadiyah and for the university,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Habibie dismissed speculation that Amien was made to resign
\nbecause of his critical remarks over the activities of the giant
\nAmerican mining company PT Freeport Indonesia in Irian Jaya or
\nthe planned foreign investment in the Busang gold mining project
\nin East Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
\"Pak Amien himself had explained (his position) and he had
\nsaid that whatever remarks he made in the past were based on his
\ngood intentions. All of us at ICMI can understand the situation
\nwell,\" he said. The criticism that Amien launched, he said, was
\n\"not an issue at all.\"<\/p>\n
In one of his articles, Amien called the disproportionately
\nsmall profit Indonesia receives from Freeport's massive mining
\noperations as \"unconstitutional.\" However, on a more recent
\noccasion, he thanked Freeport when it was declared the top
\ntaxpayer of 1996.<\/p>\n
Habibie said the Council of Experts was also losing another
\nmember as Yahya Muhaimin, a colleague of Amien at the university
\nand fellow leader of Muhammadiyah, will soon leave for a
\ndiplomatic post at the Indonesian embassy in Washington D.C.<\/p>\n
Yahya, a military analyst, will still work for the association
\nby organizing its activities in North America. (imn\/aan)<\/p>",
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