Amien becomes professor, plans to quit campus

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Chairman of the National Mandate Party Amien Rais stated on Saturday he would resign from Gadjah Mada University where he teaches, just as he acquired the long coveted position of professor.

However, he said he hoped to return to teaching after he retires from politics.

A new rule on civil servants has led many to choose between their jobs and political parties.

Amien, a scholar in Middle East affairs, previously said he would try to take a leave of absence from the campus.

In his speech, Amien, who teaches at the university's School of Social and Political Sciences, said "absolute powerlessness" was just as dangerous as "absolute power".

While a consequence of absolute power is oppression and exploitation, a consequence of powerlessness can be the destruction of the establishment, "with extraordinary ramifications", he said.

In his address titled "Power, Powerlessness and Democratization of Power", Amien said leaders in a state too dependent on power would monopolize the truth, in which justice could never be realized. Those without power had no choice but to "loot, destroy and run amok", said Amien, who will turn 54 soon.

"The empowerment for the powerless takes the form of destructive actions," he said, citing recent unrest.

Powerlessness, he said, would eventually grow where parties who repeatedly tried to take part in decision-making repeatedly failed. This, he said, raised concerns of apathy ahead of the coming elections because of the powerlessness widely experienced over three decades.

Amien acknowledged on Friday there were some who protested his professorship, because his activities had led him to rare appearances on campus. Luckily, he said, Minister of Education and Culture Juwono Sudarsono said his frequent "lectures" in several cities should be taken into account.

Amien told The Jakarta Post that some of his supporters said it would be "quite irresponsible and unethical" if he left politics now to teach full-time. Amien has been recognized as one of the leading figures in the reform movement.

Amien said his decision to leave the state university would lead to a loss of income. However, Amien said the income of his wife, Kusnasriyati Sri Rahayu, from their restaurant and a small company producing educational toys, apart from his compensation from public lectures, would compensate for the loss of his job at the university.

The National Mandate Party (PAN), while enjoying large support from a popular, inclusive platform apart from the leadership of Amien himself, has internal rifts among its executives.

Amien claims that "95 percent" of the conflicts are well handled. Only a few are "unnatural", he said. "For instance, people of a certain ethnic group refuse to join PAN if the leadership is of another ethnic group."

Cited as one of the reasons for rifts in PAN is that members of the Muslim organization Muhammadiyah, which Amien used to chair, try to dominate the party. (swa)