Muhammadiyah to elect chairmanship candidates<\/p>\n
By Santi WE Sukanto and Wisnu Pramudya<\/p>\n
BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): About 100 leading members of the Moslem
\norganization Muhammadiyah will begin today the preliminary
\nprocess of electing the group's chairman by short-listing 39 of
\nthe 95 registered candidates.<\/p>\n
In a meeting of Muhammadiyah's law-making body, the Tanwir,
\nexpected by the leaders to proceed in a democratic manner,
\nrepresentatives of the 26 provincial branches of the reformist
\norganization will be asked to name the leaders of their choice.<\/p>\n
Muhammadiyah Vice Chairman Syafii Maarif said that two of the
\ncandidates were A.M. Fatwa and H.M. Sanusi, members of the Petisi
\n50 group of staunch government critics. Each have spent nine
\nyears in prison for subversion.<\/p>\n
In its 1985 and 1990 congresses, Muhammadiyah leaders were
\n\"ordered\" by the authorities not to include any Petisi 50 members
\nin the group's election process. Petisi 50 is led by former
\nJakarta governor Ali Sadikin.<\/p>\n
\"But that was then,\" Syafii told The Jakarta Post. \"There
\nwere political, security reasons for that. It's different now.
\nThey are members of Muhammadiyah, they have rights and they are
\nfree.\"<\/p>\n
The other candidates include incumbent Amien Rais; Golkar
\nleading member Din Syamsuddin; former Muhammadiyah vice chairman
\nLukman Harun; Syafii himself; senior leader Prodjokusumo; a low-
\nprofile ulema from East Java, Abdurrahim Nur; and Secretary
\nRusjdi Hamka.<\/p>\n
Syafii said that, so far, the Tanwir meeting, which is a
\nprelude to the congress proper -- to be opened by President
\nSoeharto on Thursday -- has been proceeding relatively free from
\nany external pressures.<\/p>\n
Golkar<\/p>\n
Rusjdi said, however, that the whole issue of \"pressure from
\noutside elements\" could not be separated from the fact that the
\nMuhammadiyah has 28 million members, making it an appealing
\npotential power base for any political grouping in the country.<\/p>\n
Attempts to drag Muhammadiyah into politics have come from
\nvarious quarters, including Golkar, through local government
\nofficials, said Rusjdi, who was recently elected chairman of the
\nJakarta branch of the United Development Party (PPP).<\/p>\n
Rusjdi noted the persistence of State Minister of Food Ibrahim
\nHasan, when he was governor of this province, in urging
\nMuhammadiyah to hold a congress in Aceh.<\/p>\n
Ibrahim had strongly urged Muhammadiyah to hold the congress
\nhere since 1985, an informed source told The Jakarta Post. Only
\nin 1990, when Ibrahim attended a Muhammadiyah congress as an
\nordinary participant, did the organization's leaders accept his
\noffer.<\/p>\n
Before 1987, Golkar, the government political grouping, had
\nnever won any of the three general elections in Aceh, which had
\nbeen a stronghold of the PPP.<\/p>\n
Rusjdi said the considerable assistance that the local
\nadministration had provided for the Muhammadiyah congress here
\nwas part of the Golkar campaign to convince the Acehnese that it
\npays as great attention toward Islamic causes as the PPP does.<\/p>\n
Rusjdi said that, should the Golkar campaign succeed, the PPP
\nwould do even worse in the 1997 general elections. \"I think, in
\nthat case, the PPP will be wiped out here,\" he told the Post.<\/p>\n
The Tanwir is expected to end tonight. Tomorrow, hundreds of
\nMuhammadiyah leaders will hold a special forum to deliberate
\ncontemporary questions, including labor conditions and national
\nculture.<\/p>\n
Amien Rais said yesterday that the ulemas would examine the
\ntwo issues from the perspective of Islamic law and would probably
\nestablish a smaller team to conduct more intensive study and
\nprepare solutions.<\/p>\n
Some 50 Acehnese ulemas from other organizations will also
\ntake part in the meeting, one of the functions of which is to
\nissue religious decrees (fatwa) to Muhammadiyah members.<\/p>",
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