Former leader advises HMI to quit politics

Former leader advises HMI to quit politics

JAKARTA (JP): On the eve of an important congress of the
influential Association of Islamic Students, one of its former
leaders said the organization should not indulge in practical
politics the way it had in the past.

"It's time for the association to get back to the campus,"
Akbar Tanjung, the association's chairman between 1971 and 1974,
told the Antara news agency.

"This is no longer the era for the association to be involved
in practical politics," Akbar, now state minister of people's
housing, said. "Of course an individual association member can
indulge in practical politics in his private capacity, by joining
one of the political organizations, but he or she must not carry
the association's banner."

Because of its political involvement and its strong influence,
the association, in the past, has provided many present
Indonesian leaders with the springboard to launch their political
career.

Akbar was no exception. He presided over the organization at
the height of the students politics era of the 1960s and 1970s.
He subsequently joined the ruling political group Golkar where
his political career blossomed until he was recruited into
President Soeharto's cabinet, first as state minister of youths
and sports from 1988 to 1993, and now as state minister for
people's housing.

The association, no longer as influential as it used to be in
the 1970s, is slated to hold its congress in Surabaya, East Java,
starting tomorrow. At the top of the agenda is the election of
its leadership board and the drafting of its program for the next
five years.

HMI's 20th congress will be opened by President Soeharto at
the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on Saturday, but the meeting proper
will proceed at the Haj Dormitory in Surabaya and will close on
Jan. 30.

Sensitive

Akbar said that staying out of practical politics does not
mean that the association should not be concerned about what is
happening in society.

"As students, they cannot ignore their surroundings." On the
contrary, students must be more sensitive towards the changes and
developments taking place in society, he said.

This, he added, means that the political awareness of
association members should be heightened. And as a student
organization, the association should sharpen the intellectual
capability of its members.

Akbar said the association must adapt to the changes in
society lest it becomes "marginalized".

He also said that the organization remains as an essential
place to groom the country's future leaders.

On a separate occasion Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad,
who was the association's secretary general in 1961, stressed the
need for association members to heighten their sense of
nationalism.

"I'm not just making idle chatter," he said, adding that young
people must be given enough preparation in terms of faith,
experience, knowledge and technological know-how. (emb)