Ismail Hasan not above being corrected<\/p>\n
By Santi WE Soekanto<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): "If I am right, follow me. Whenever I am wrong,
\ncorrect me," Ismail Hasan Metareum said five years ago when he
\nwas first elected chairman of the United Development Party (PPP).<\/p>\n
He was quoting a famous saying by the first Caliph, Abu Bakar
\nAsshiddiq, when the friend of Prophet Muhammad took up the Moslem
\nleadership following the Prophet's death 14 centuries ago.<\/p>\n
It is told that at that time, another friend of the Prophet,
\nUmar bin Khattab, who succeeded Abu Bakar, declared boldly, "When
\nyou go astray, I will personally straighten you up with my
\nsword."<\/p>\n
Ismail Hasan might not be lucky enough to have such an honest
\nfriend as Umar bin Khattab, but he apparently is considered
\n"right" enough to merit another term at the helm of the Moslem-
\nbased party.<\/p>\n
When the third congress of PPP concluded on Thursday with his
\nre-election, Ismail Hasan did not attempt to make the same offer
\nfor people to correct him in his leadership. Instead, he repeated
\nthe same promise he made five years ago that he will not punish
\nthose who opposed or even "rebelled" against him.<\/p>\n
"I will not recall (from the House of Representatives: DPR)
\nany activists of PPP (who opposed me)," he said five years ago.
\n"I want to create a calm, peaceful and serene situation within
\nthe party."<\/p>\n
This time, he also vowed that he will not shove away those who
\nin recent months have become his "foes" and fought hard to oust
\nhim.<\/p>\n
"I will not recall any of them, they can continue their work
\nwithin the party peacefully," he said on Thursday, in reference
\nto his former secretary-general Matori Abdul Djalil, junior
\ncolleague Sri Bintang Pamungkas and several other figures.<\/p>\n
Despite wide criticism of his style of leadership during the
\npast five years, Ismail Hasan is resolute that he will maintain
\nhis low-profile and "calm" approach to the party's management.<\/p>\n
Preference<\/p>\n
Many younger people might prefer the "explosive" style of Sri
\nBintang Pamungkas, and the ulemas of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU)
\nfaction might favor Matori Abdul Djalil's agreeable style, but
\nthe re-election of Ismail Hasan says a lot for his preference for
\na "calm" leadership.<\/p>\n
Over the last five years, he never displayed any emotional
\noutburst, even when criticism came hard and fast against his
\neffectiveness as a leader.<\/p>\n
In the last general election in 1992, Ismail Hasan was branded
\nineffective because he was only able to increase the party's vote
\nby one percent. Consequently, PPP got only one additional seat in
\nthe House of Representatives, up from the previous 61 seats,
\nwhich was a far cry from his 1987 vow that he would increase
\nPPP's portion in the parliament to 100 seats.<\/p>\n
In 1992, PPP obtained 17 percent of the vote, coming a far
\nsecond behind the ruling functional group Golkar which won 68
\npercent. The third party, the populist Indonesian Democratic
\nParty (PDI) took 15 percent of the vote. In the previous
\nelections in 1987, PPP reaped 16 percent of the vote, Golkar 73
\npercent and PDI 11 percent.<\/p>\n
A native of Aceh, Ismail Hasan is the fourth of six children
\nin the family of Teungku Hasan. Some years ago, the 65-year old
\nman added "Metareum" to his name in order not to be confused with
\na colleague with the same name.<\/p>\n
Ismail Hasan's quotation of the Caliph's saying upon his
\nelection in 1989 was not out of character. In Aceh, a "teungku"
\nis a Moslem leader and gets the same respect as the "kyai" in
\nJavanese Moslem culture.<\/p>\n
Ismail Hasan received his early religious training in
\nMetareum, the small village where he was born some eight
\nkilometers from Sigli, the capital of Sigli Aceh Pidie regency.<\/p>\n
After finishing high school in Jakarta in 1952, he went to the
\nLaw School at the University of Indonesia and joined the
\ninfluential Moslem students organization, HMI.<\/p>\n
Between 1955 and 1957, he became deputy chairman of HMI. He
\nspent three years as chairman of the organization.<\/p>\n
It was during this time that Ismail Hasan had the chance to
\nreally stand out among his peers. He led HMI in stating
\ndisagreement over the plan of the first president, Sukarno, to
\ndissolve the House of Representatives and replace it with another
\nlegislative body to be manned by people he personally hand-
\npicked.<\/p>\n
Ismail said at that time that Sukarno's plan violated the
\nConstitution and would open the House's door to elements of the
\nnow outlawed Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). When Sukarno asked
\nHMI to send three members to be seated at the House, Ismail Hasan
\nrefused.<\/p>\n
Ismail Hasan married Maryani in 1961 and now has five
\nchildren.<\/p>\n
Ismail Hasan, who is usually called Buya (father), joined the
\nPartai Muslimin Indonesia (Parmusi) before the 1971 general
\nelections, and was subsequently posted to the House of
\nRepresentatives (DPR).<\/p>\n
In late 1972 and early 1973, Parmusi merged with three other
\nMoslem organizations (Syarikat Islam, Nahdlatul Ulama and Perti)
\nto form the United Development Party (PPP). Since then, Ismail
\nHasan's name has been closely linked with the party.<\/p>\n
In 1989, he replaced the flamboyant Jaelani Naro, who led the
\nparty since the 1970s, despite never having announced his
\nintention to run for chairmanship.<\/p>\n
"It's fate, something which I never expected," he said after
\nhis election in 1989, adding that he had actually been
\n"struggling" to put another PPP leader, Hartono Mardjono, at the
\nhelm, when the second PPP congress suddenly changed course and
\nhis name began circulating among members of the electoral board.<\/p>\n
Military<\/p>\n
Ismail Hasan has always been known for his close relations
\nwith military circles. He was a student soldier in Aceh during
\nthe revolutionary years of the 1940s.<\/p>\n
In the 1970s, Ismail Hasan taught at his alma mater. In 1981,
\nafter then minister of education Daoed Joesoef prohibited staff
\nlecturers at state universities from getting involved in
\npolitics, he left the University of Indonesia, and started
\nteaching at the Tarumanagara private university. He was later
\nappointed dean of the law school there.<\/p>\n
Early this year, Ismail Hasan said he wanted the party's third
\ncongress, which concluded Thursday, to proceed as democratically
\nas possible.<\/p>\n
There are people, like Bintang and Matori, who think that the
\njust concluded congress of the party was not democratic.<\/p>\n
However, Ismail used his acceptance speech to hammer home his
\nconviction that "all is well that ends well" and that the
\ncongress had heeded the principles of democracy.<\/p>\n
"This congress proceeded better than the previous congresses,"
\nhe said. "We should be thankful that we did not encounter any
\nobstacles in carrying out this event."<\/p>",
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