Fathers of aborted ICKI trade accusations
Fathers of aborted ICKI trade accusations
JAKARTA (JP): The plan to establish the Association of
Nationalist Intellectuals (ICKI) has fallen apart, and the two
figures who were trying to found the group are now trading
accusations about who sold out the organization.
Alamsyah Ratu Perwiranegara, a former cabinet minister,
accused R. Moehono, the rector of the Krisnadwipayana
University, of betraying him by creating a new organization
behind his back.
Alamsyah had earlier announced that he was dropping the plan
to set up ICKI because of the controversy that it had created and
for the sake of the nation's unity.
Later he accused Moehono of disclosing the plan to the public
before it had been solidified.
He also added that he only found out that Moehono had gone
ahead to form a new organization, called the Association of
Intellectuals for the Development of Pancasila (PCPP), from this
week's edition of the Tempo magazine.
Moehono and his supporters have privately said that Alamsyah
had tried to use the ICKI plan for his own political interests.
To the Antara news agency, Moehono yesterday denied that he
had betrayed Alamsyah, whom he described as his "buddy."
However he refused to be drawn into an open debate. "There's
no need to counter the accusation. Let the public be the judge."
He also refused to disclose the extent of his involvement in
forming the PCPP.
The plan to form ICKI spawned a debate in the country over the
past month. Those who supported the plan said that it was a
timely move to stop a current trend favoring sectarian politics.
They pointed out that ICMI, the Association of Moslem
Intellectuals led by State Minister of Research and Technology
B.J. Habibie, was now sneaking into the political arena.
The ICKI initiative was seen as a way of countering ICMI's
strength and bringing the various intellectual, religious-based
organizations under one umbrella
No objection
Meanwhile, a cabinet minister disclosed yesterday that
President Soeharto, in his first public remarks about the ICKI
controversy, said he had no objection to ICKI or other, similar
organizations.
State Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja told
reporters after meeting Soeharto yesterday that he had solicited
the President's views on the subject.
The President said he understood if there was a strong desire
to establish organizations to strengthen the country's sense of
nationalism, Sarwono said.
The minister, who built his career as a politician for the
ruling group Golkar, said he would personally support the
establishment of an organization that is all encompassing and not
exclusive.
He said that the religious and ethnic wars that are going on
in some parts of the world should serve as a reminder of the
dangers of encouraging sectarian politics.
He said the President also agreed that the creation of
exclusive groups could inadvertently promote a similar situation
in Indonesia.
"It is time that this republic has a group which encompasses
every organization, while allowing those exclusive groups to
exist. After all they are legal," Sarwono said.
Indonesia is still lacking in terms of organizations that are
non-exclusive. "That's why any initiative along those lines
should be welcomed, whatever the name of the organization."
When asked about the fate of his group, Sarwono said he
believed that a similar organization would eventually be
established given the strong support ICKI briefly enjoyed.
Sarwono had been cited as one of the possible candidates for
the now aborted ICKI.
The ICKI initiative had also had the expressed support of
Minister of Defense and Security Edi Sudradjat and Siswono
Judohusodo, the minister of transmigration. (emb)