'Government has to maintain Moslems' support'

JAKARTA (JP): The government will not want to risk losing its current close relationship with Moslems by undermining the Muhammadiyah Moslem organization or its chairman, the outspoken scholar Amien Rais, a political observer said yesterday.

Ramlan Surbakti, a lecturer at Surabaya's Airlangga University, said President Soeharto had been enjoying Moslems' support.

"He would not want to reduce the solid support of Muhammadiyah," Ramlan said of the 28 million-strong organization's relationship with the President.

He said "the leadership of Muhammadiyah is solid and independent, and is loyal to its statutes, so it would be difficult for outside parties to intervene".

Ramlan was commenting on Amien's recent resignation as leader of the Council of Experts of the Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI). He has been transfered as member of the association's board of advisors under noted ulema Ali Yafie.

Soeharto is chief patron of the politically well-connected group.

Following his resignation, speculation abounded that Amien was made to resign because President Soeharto and the government were displeased with his criticism of some policies.

Controversial Moslem scholar Abdurrahman Wahid ridiculed suggestions Amien's transfer to a lower post was proof of government meddling in Muhammadiyah's affairs.

Gus Dur, as Abdurrahman is better known, said last Thursday in Yogyakarta that Amien's resignation from ICMI could not be interpreted as the government undermining Islam or the Moslem organization.

"It's mistaken if people see Amien's transfer as a government campaign to 'shave' Muhammadiyah or Islam," he said.

"That is outrageous. Muhammadiyah has other leaders such as Watik Pratiknya," said Abdurrahman, who chairs Indonesia's largest Moslem organization, the 30 million-strong Nahdlatul Ulama.

"Nahdlatul Ulama should not be seen as represented only by me, and neither should Muhammadiyah be seen as represented only by Mr Amien Rais," Abdurrahman said.

Association chairman B.J. Habibie has denied ICMI considers Amien a liability because of his outspokenness. He reiterated that Amien relinquished his position voluntarily because of his heavy workload in Muhammadiyah and Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, where he is a staff lecturer at its School of Social and Political Sciences.

Joining the chorus of voices denying the speculation was the association's secretary general, Adi Sasono, who said Friday in Banda Aceh that the association had never been irritated by its members' outspokenness.

"ICMI has been critical for a long time," he said.

Adi said Amien's resignation had nothing to do with his critical stance on many government policies.

He said it was Amien's nature to be critical and that there were still many intellectuals in the association who were as critical as Amien.

"So it is wrong to link his resignation with his outspokenness. He had personal reasons to resign from his post," Adi said.

"It was for the sake of the experts council's performance and Amien's own role in Muhammadiyah that the central board of ICMI decided to accept the resignation." (23/imn/aan)