Ginandjar urges ICMI not to become elitist group

Ginandjar urges ICMI not to become elitist group

JAKARTA (JP): A senior official acknowledges that it is not possible for the influential Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI) to entirely avoid "political reactions" from the public.

State Minister of National Development Planning Ginandjar Kartasasmita said in an address to some 1,200 leading members of ICMI yesterday that "it is not possible for an organization as big as ICMI not to have political impacts, even though it's not a political organization".

"It's natural if it also invites political reactions", he said.

Ginandjar was explaining why the public often has at least two different reactions to the roles of ICMI in society. There are groups who clearly support and need the organization, and there are those who view it with apprehension, he said.

"The second stance may have been caused by prejudice and apprehension that...ICMI would run counter to nationalism," he said. The sentiment, however, would soon dissipate if ICMI and its members prove the public's feeling wrong, he said.

"Instead, the public would feel peaceful and be calm, if people are convinced that ICMI is here to strengthen our national life," he said.

ICMI is holding its three-day congress amid various public criticism, including that it has become a political vehicle for certain interest groups, that it is elitist as well as "sectarian". ICMI leaders have repeatedly denied the criticism, saying that ICMI is apolitical, although it allows members to be politically active in their individual capacity.

Ginandjar called on the organization, which will elect a new executive board tomorrow, never to develop into "an organization of the elite and act elitist that grows apart from the reality of the (Moslem) community's life".

Instead, ICMI should become "a drive for reforms, which is rooted in the people and is able to make the people's lives dynamic", he said.

In other parts of his address, Ginandjar spoke at length about the various challenges Indonesia will face in the near future. "As the quality of our human resources improves, the quality of democracy will also improve. This condition is the result of improvement in the quality of the existing social and political institutions," he said.

In addition, there will be a more transparent social and political life, he said. As a consequence, the people will be more persistent in their demand for justice, he said.

"The main route (for the nation) to meet the demand is through laws. There's no advance and modern country which does not rely on laws, or which only stands on the basis of power," he said.

"It's laws which will protect the community and every citizen," he said.

The congress today will hear from Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M., Commander of the Armed Forces Gen. Feisal Tanjung, as well as hold plenary sessions to review the account of duty from the outgoing executive board.

The participants will be divided into two commissions, one in charge of deliberating programs for the 1995 to 2000 period, and the other for deliberating organizational matters. (swe)