HMI elects Taufiq as its new chief

HMI elects Taufiq as its new chief

JAKARTA (JP): The Moslem Students Association (HMI) elected a
chairman in the early hours yesterday morning after an all night
session with candidates, which included compelling them to recite
the Koran, at its congress in Surabaya, East Java.

The congress elected 29-year-old Taufiq Hidayat, a post-
graduate student at the University of Indonesia and formerly head
of HMI's department for university students and youth, as the
organization's chairman for the 1995-1997 period.

He replaced the incumbent Yahya Zaini, who dropped out of the
race half way through the 10-day congress after objections from
participants to a chairman serving more than one three-year term.

There was disorder and a brief episode of fist fighting among
supporters of the candidates during the preliminary election
procedures, which saw the emergence of three strong candidates:
Fatah Yasin, Taufiq and Aman Romansjach,Antara reported.

The candidates were requested to make a campaign speech and to
read the Koran during the selection process.

Supporters of Fatah and Aman Romansjach were earlier locked in
a fierce argument about the criteria to judge the Koranic
recital. The short brawl was over which participant should take
the initiative to read the Moslem holy book first.

Fatah Yasin then proceeded to read the Yasin segment of the
Koran. Taufiq Hidayat read Al-Baqarah, while Aman read Ali-Imran.
Afterwards, the election went more smoothly.

In his campaign speech, Taufiq promised to examine and improve
the organization's recruitment system and to strengthen its
management. He also vowed to bring HMI "back to the campus" by
solidifying on campus chapters.

It was not clear whether Taufiq won the election because of
his Koranic recital or his campaign speech, but in the first
round of voting, in which there were six candidates, he came
second with 19 votes, behind Fatah Yasin with 22 votes. In the
final round however, when the pack was reduced to three
candidates, he tallied 103 votes against Fatah's 89 and
Romansjah's 66.

Mandate

With the victory, Taufiq also received a mandate from the
congress to form HMI's new central executive board.

A former HMI chairman, Saleh Khalid, was quoted as saying by
the Suara Pembaruan daily that some level of disorder, even
fistfights, are usual in HMI congresses.

"HMI members do this all the time ... this is all a reflection
of the spirit of youth," he said. "The congress is the only forum
where members can compete, and have the opportunity to vent
their frustrations."

Saleh said the public should not judge the organization by
what went on during the chaotic plenary sessions.

"Don't judge the process. Look at the results," he said,
adding that the congress participants had more or less displayed
maturity because they were able to restore order after listening
to the reading of the Koran.

After spending most of the 10 days of the congress with an
agenda widely criticized as a waste of time, the organization
grabbed attention when it issued a controversial recommendation.

On Sunday, it called for legislation compelling government
officials to publicly declare their wealth before and after they
hold office to ensure their honesty.

Though by no means a new issue, the recommendation sparked
reactions from many corners.

"Every official in government must be clean from the scandals
which have been tainting the administration," HMI said.

The organization also recommended a law to limit the length of
time a person could hold office in the government. (emb/swe)