Habibie faces tough competition in ICMI
Habibie faces tough competition in ICMI
JAKARTA (JP): B.J. Habibie, the incumbent chairman of the influential Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals, or ICMI, will face stiff competition during the upcoming chairman elections.
While he is still the most popular candidate with the widest support from ICMI branches, Habibie is reportedly closely tailed by Emil Salim, Amien Rais, Achmad Tirtosudiro and Adi Sasono. The four last names have repeatedly crept up during preliminary elections at the branch level across the country, an ICMI member told The Jakarta Post.
Tamsil Linrung, a member of the organizing committee for next month's ICMI congress, said that Habibie, who is also State Minister for Research and Technology, still has the upper hand and would likely retain his seat.
"Most branches still want him," he said.
Emil is a former minister of environment, a professor of economics and a respected Moslem thinker. Amien is chairman of the 28-million member Muhammadiyah Moslem organization, an international relations expert as well as a member of ICMI's board of experts.
Achmad Tirtosudiro, a retired serviceman, is former ambassador to Germany and Saudi Arabia; he is currently chairman of ICMI's Jakarta branch. Adi Sasono, a fast-rising star of the organization, is a former student activist and has long been involved in non-governmental organizations.
Amien and Adi have openly stated their support for the re- election of Habibie, as have a number of branch leaders. Emil has so far kept silent when asked about his possible nomination.
Tamsil said each of the 343 units of the organization has been asked to submit a list of their ten choices for ICMI leaders. The lists will then be brought to regional branches, each of which will later be required to submit a list of 17 names to the congress.
Finally, the congress, to be held from Dec. 7 to Dec. 9, will choose 45 members for the 1995-2000 executive board. Sources said that the congress will likely choose Habibie by acclamation, given his achievements in leading the government-backed organization.
Meanwhile, legislator A.M. Saefuddin, who has repeatedly called for another figure to lead ICMI, received support from Hadimulyo, a fellow legislator. Both men are members of the United Development Party faction.
Hadimulyo recently agreed with Saefuddin that ICMI should be led by another man not as busy as Habibie, who currently holds down dozens of government and private positions.
A supporter of Habibie, scholar M. Dawam Rahardjo, responded by saying that Habibie would lead ICMI as long as President Soeharto gave him his blessing.
He said Emil Salim is not suited for the job. "So far, there's no other figure who can replace Habibie," he said last week.
Political observer Maswadi Rauf, however, said that the organization would achieve more independence if it didn't have a cabinet minister as its next chairperson.
The lecturer at the University of Indonesia's School of Social and Political Sciences said on Saturday that people have always linked ICMI's achievements to the fact that it is chaired by a minister.
Erasing the image of this dependence is "the most difficult challenge for ICMI", he said.
The public's wish that ministers not chair mass organizations, in order for them to fully concentrate to their posts, should be heeded, he said.
Whoever is elected chairman, Maswadi said, will also have to do much to attract young people to the organization. (swe/01)