Amien Rais set to stay at the helm
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)