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.