Amien Rais set to stay at the helm

BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): As widely expected, intellectual Amien Rais has received the most votes in elections to the executive board of the 28 million-strong Islamic organization Muhammadiyah and appears set to become its chairman for a second consecutive term. An official announcement is expected to be made today.

Two days of elections and a lengthy process of counting the ballots cast by 1,271 congress participants eventually named 13 people with the most votes of the 40 candidates selected in a preliminary selection.

Senior activist Lukman Harun, who was first thought to have lost all chance because of his controversial activities and long- standing disagreement with other leading members, was included in the list.

Chairman of the election committee A. Rosjad Sholeh announced yesterday afternoon the 13 people who will make up the organization's central board for the period 1995-2000. They include: Amien Rais, with 1,245 votes; bureaucrat Sutrisno Muhdam, with 1,048 votes; historian Syafii Maarif, with 1,047 votes; intellectual-cum-bureaucrat Ahmad Watik Pratiknya, with 886 votes; and bureaucrat Rosjad Sholeh, with 874 votes.

Political scientist Yahya Muhaimin received 866 votes; former bureaucrat Ramli Thaha obtained 852 votes; ulema Asjmuni Abdurrahman got 802 votes; ulema Muchlas Abror received 730 votes; activist and former vice chairman Lukman Harun received 660 votes; and ulema Anhar Burhanuddin received 628 votes.

Politician and journalist Rusjdi Hamka received 624 votes, while Sjukrianto A.R., an educator and son of the late esteemed ulema, A.R. Fachruddin, received 589 votes.

Of the central board lineup, only Yahya, Anhar and Sjukrianto are complete newcomers. The rest are either members of the outgoing board or past boards.

The 13 men will soon convene and decide among themselves as to who will chair the new board. Customarily, though, as happened during the previous four congresses, the person with the most votes will take the helm.

Amien and Watik agreed that the new composition of central board would be "solid", able to withstand potential conflicts and capable of guiding the massive organization into the 21st century.

Vice President Try Sutrisno is scheduled to close the congress today.

A plenary session which was conducted yesterday afternoon adopted a set of recommendations reaffirming the organization's pledge to shun politics.

"We reaffirm the organization's stance...not to have any organizational ties or affiliation or any other relations with any social political grouping," read the recommendation, made available to the press yesterday.

Recommendation

Hundreds of leading members have, since Friday afternoon, divided themselves into three commissions.

Commission A deliberated the report of the outgoing leadership, delivered by chairman Amien Rais; Commission B discussed organizational affairs, including education and efforts to promote members' welfare; while Commission C prepared a series of recommendation on various issues, including political affairs.

"Muhammadiyah will participate in the efforts to ensure the success of the 1997 general elections and the 1998 session of the People's Consultative Assembly and hopes that the elections will proceed in a fair manner," the recommendation said.

"We call on all social and political forces in society to place unity, national interests and resilience above all else, and avoid 'group' egotisms which may weaken national resilience," the recommendation said.

The organization also called for greater efforts towards democratization.

Muhammadiyah expressed concern over the growing practices of monopoly and oligopoly, describing them as a form of "moral decadence" which oppresses the poor.

The organization's leaders conceded that any campaign against monopoly was a Herculean task and entailed great risks; however, because any mission to protect the poor was in line with the nature of Muhammadiyah's mission, the organization said it was ready to face the risks.

"Muhammadiyah also calls for the improvement of electoral systems and the laws that regulate them," said Commission C Chairman Adaby Darban, a professor at Gadjah Mada University's School of Social and Political Sciences.

Muhammadiyah was established 83 years ago, mainly to concentrate on educational and social issues.

In the early 1950s, the organization became a "special member" of the Islamic party Masjumi. Political pressure brought to bear on the party because of its decision to include the organization eventually forced Masjumi leaders to request Muhammadiyah to step out.

In the late 1960s, encouraged by the rush of optimism brought about by the New Order administration, Muhammadiyah took part in the establishment of another Islamic party, Parmusi. Masjumi had already been dissolved by the government at that time.

Out of fear that Parmusi would continue with Masjumi's political line, the authorities pressured the Muhammadiyah leaders to resign.

At its 38th congress in Ujungpandang in 1972, Muhammadiyah leaders vowed that the organization would stay out of politics permanently. (swe/Wisnu Pramudya)