Candidates jockey for Muhammadiyah positions

Candidates jockey for Muhammadiyah positions

By Santi WE Soekanto and Wisnu Pramudya

BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): Candidates for the Muhammadiyah
chairmanship undertook last minute behind-the-scenes lobbying
yesterday to canvas support for today's election.

Observers predicted that the election would be lively, judging
by the last two days of intensive lobbying by prospective
chairmen and their supporters.

Despite earlier vows by leading members that there wouldn't be
conflicts at the congress, polarized groups have emerged.

Reporters say they have been approached by certain factions
requesting favorable coverage for their candidates.

The congress will pick 13 people from the 40 prospects
selected at a preliminary meeting. The 13 will sit on the central
executive board for the 1995-2000 term.

The elected 13 will later convene and decide among themselves
who will chair the reformist Moslem organization.

Several possible names have been mentioned, including low-
profile and likable vice chairman Sutrisno Muchdam and
intellectual Syafii Maarif, who is known for his passionate
speeches against external attempts to meddle in the
organization's affairs.

However, the most distinct groups facing-off against each
other were those backing incumbent chairman Amien Rais, and those
campaigning to have former vice chairman Lukman Harun included in
the new board.

Lukman, a prominent member who has spent years working on
social and political causes, was considered lucky to have been
included in the final 40.

Lukman, Syafii and a number of other leading members have
refuted reports of disunity, but several observers, each having
close ties to some nominees and privy to inside information,
admitted they were campaigning for certain camps.

Included in this group of observers are a prominent political
scientist and an anthropologist. A source close to Amien told the
Jakarta Post, under the condition of anonymity, that the
incumbent would surely walk out of the congress as the winner
because he has already pocketed the majority of support.

He named representatives from North Sumatra, Riau, Yogyakarta,
West Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta, East Java, South Sulawesi,
North Sulawesi, Maluku, East and South Kalimantan as having
"absolute support" for Amien.

The source, a political scientist, said West Sumatra will be
divided between Syafii Maarif and Lukman. Both men come from the
region.

"I believe the West Nusa Tenggara delegates will also be
divided, but I'll do my best to convince them to choose Amien,"
the source told the Post before setting off to canvass support.

Amien has reaped praise from various corners for skillfully
steering the preliminary meeting away from a protracted conflict
by convincing participants to receive 40 nominees, thus including
Lukman, rather than 39 as dictated by the statutes.

He was also commended when he opened the congress meetings in
Arabic, and delivered a speech critical of the West and the
shortcomings in domestic development.

Yesterday a number of participants busied themselves
distributing lists of what they called "packets of leadership",
each claiming to come from different camps.

The first list was said to be from Amien Rais' camp and
included bureaucrat Sutrisno Muhdam, bureaucrat Rosyad Sholeh,
ulema and retired army colonel H.S. Prodjokusumo, tycoon Fahmi
Chatib, politician Rusjdi Hamka, educator Yunan Yusuf, educator
M. Suwardi, ulema Djamaluddin Amin, ulema Anhar Burhanuddin and
educator Malik Fadjar.

Most of the names mentioned were intellectuals and academics.
Lukman Harun was included in the list as proof of Amien's
willingness to accommodate his "foe", the Post's source said.

Another list was said to be from Lukman's camp and included
Amien Rais, Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ismail Sunny and Rusjdi
Hamka.

Yet another list, said to have been drafted by Syafii Maarif,
included Syafii himself, Rosyad Sholeh, Muhammad Muqoddas,
intellectuals Asjmuni Abdurrahman and Yahya Muhaimin, and
Sjukrianto A.R., son of the late Muhammadiyah leader A.R.
Fachruddin.

Both Lukman and Syafii denied knowledge of any lists.

However, respected ulema Anwar Harjono from the Indonesian
Council of Islamic Propagation, who is attending the congress as
an observer, said he sensed the emergence of polarization.

He regretted the new phenomenon.

"This is a religious movement, those who are involved in it
should have a feature of ikhlas (gracefulness), rather than being
driven by competition," he said.

"There are so many urgent things that have to be handled,
including the problem of poverty among Moslems," he said.