Amien tenders resignation from ICMI council post

Amien tenders resignation from ICMI council post

JAKARTA (JP): Amien Rais, chief of the experts council of the
Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI), has
tendered his resignation from his post at the influential
organization, citing his heavy schedule at the Muhammadiyah
Moslem organization.

The decision was announced on Saturday evening by the
association's chairman, B.J. Habibie, only hours after Amien Rais
had refuted rumors that Habibie was demanding his resignation.

The rumors, which began circulating early last week, alleged
that Amien had become a liability due to his critical stance on
certain government policies, including those on foreign
investment in mining projects in Irian Jaya and East Kalimantan.

"No one has called for, ordered or requested the resignation
of Amien Rais, Parni Hadi, Adi Sasono and Jimly Asshidique. What
happened was that Amien Rais resigned because of technical
reasons," Habibie was quoted by Antara as saying.

The others mentioned are prominent association members known
to be close to Amien. Parni is chief editor of the Republika
daily, Adi is ICMI secretary-general as well as director of the
association's Center for Information and Development Studies,
while Jimly is a bureaucrat at the Ministry of Education and
Culture.

For the past several days, Amien had insisted that it was
"impossible" for him to resign from ICMI.

Habibie, however, said Amien had wanted to resign since last
year on the grounds that the council of experts he chairs had
been less than productive. Over the period of 14 months since
Amien was elected chairman, the council had only convened twice,
compared to the association's board of advisors that had held 18
meetings.

"I won't be able to decide things alone, however. I will have
to discuss them in a plenary meeting," Habibie said. The plenary
meeting will take place today (Monday) and will be attended by
all members of the board of advisors, the council of experts and
the executive board.

Habibie added: "The plenary meeting will Insya Allah (God
willing) approve Amien's request, and Amien will probably become
a member of the association's board of advisors."

The minister hinted that a member of the advisory board, Fuad
Bawazier, who is also the tax director general, is likely to
replace Amien as chairman of the council of experts.

"Everything is falling into the right place. Fuad goes to the
council of experts, and Amien goes to the board of advisors,"
Habibie said.

Habibie, a close confidant of President Soeharto, denied
speculation that Amien's removal from the council was politically
motivated.

He also denied that Amien had been removed because President
Soeharto was upset by his criticism of the mining activities of
the giant American mining company, Freeport, in Irian Jaya or the
planned foreign investment in the Busang coal mining project in
East Kalimantan.

"There's no such thing. This is a very simple matter. Very
simple. Don't make it complicated," he said.

Amien acknowledged that he had learned a lesson and said that
in the future he would be wiser when expressing his views.

"Several ICMI members have suggested that I reduce my
outspokenness," he admitted. "Becoming wiser doesn't mean that my
criticism of injustices will be less sharp. I'll probably just
use softer language." (swe/12)