ICMI accepts resignation from Amien

ICMI accepts resignation from Amien

JAKARTA (JP): Critical Moslem scholar Amien Rais relinquished
his leading position within the influential Association of
Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI) yesterday, vowing to
continue to speak out against injustices and for democratization.

A plenary meeting led by organization chairman B.J. Habibie
decided yesterday to "accept" Amien's resignation as chairman of
the association's Council of Experts, and to make him a member of
the Board of Advisors under noted ulema Ali Yafie.

The decision came on the heels of widespread speculation that
Amien was forced to resign because of his critical stance on
several government policies.

"I'll continue to speak out against injustices and maintain my
concern for democratization," said Amien, who is chairman of the
28-million-strong Muhammadiyah Moslem organization and a politics
lecturer at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta.

"You should remember that I was the one who raised the issue
of the national leadership succession in 1993 when most political
experts and leaders were still sleeping," he said.

At a press conference after a plenary meeting of the central
executive board yesterday, Habibie said: "ICMI can understand and
accept Amien Rais' resignation from his current position as
chairman of ICMI's Council of Experts."

Habibie said Amien had requested to resign from his post last
year, citing his heavy workload at Muhammadiyah which had made it
difficult for him to function effectively at ICMI.

Habibie said Amien had told him that he wished to resign in
order to make the association work more efficiently and be more
productive.

Habibie said the association would decide on Amien's
replacement at another plenary meeting. However, he said last
week it was likely that Fuad Bawazier, a member of the
association's board of advisors and Director General for Taxes,
would take Amien's place.

"It's natural the replacement will also come from
Muhammadiyah," Habibie said, pointing out that the association
comprises representatives of Moslem groups in proportionate
numbers.

"It's been deliberated and decided so," said Habibie, who was
accompanied by political observer Afan Gaffar, another member of
the Council of Experts.

Habibie dismissed suggestions that the association had sought
the blessing of its patron, President Soeharto, for a new
chairman of the council.

Soeharto, who is patron of the association in a personal
capacity, reportedly leaves decisions on such matters to the
association.

Free

Amien, who spoke separately from Habibie's press conference,
told reporters he had been unable to make the Council of Experts
be more active because he had to tend to his duties at
Muhammadiyah and at the university.

"I am glad that I am now free from such a leading but time-
consuming position," he said.

He said that leaving his post on the Council of Experts would
not mean he was abandoning ICMI altogether.

"I'm still a member of the association and I will still sit on
its board of advisors as a member," he said.

He strove to dismiss speculation of political motives being
behind his transfer to a lower position.

"I just don't want to ruin the increasingly dynamic activities
of ICMI because of my incapacity to manage my time for ICMI, for
Muhammadiyah and for the university," he said.

Habibie dismissed speculation that Amien was made to resign
because of his critical remarks over the activities of the giant
American mining company PT Freeport Indonesia in Irian Jaya or
the planned foreign investment in the Busang gold mining project
in East Kalimantan.

"Pak Amien himself had explained (his position) and he had
said that whatever remarks he made in the past were based on his
good intentions. All of us at ICMI can understand the situation
well," he said. The criticism that Amien launched, he said, was
"not an issue at all."

In one of his articles, Amien called the disproportionately
small profit Indonesia receives from Freeport's massive mining
operations as "unconstitutional." However, on a more recent
occasion, he thanked Freeport when it was declared the top
taxpayer of 1996.

Habibie said the Council of Experts was also losing another
member as Yahya Muhaimin, a colleague of Amien at the university
and fellow leader of Muhammadiyah, will soon leave for a
diplomatic post at the Indonesian embassy in Washington D.C.

Yahya, a military analyst, will still work for the association
by organizing its activities in North America. (imn/aan)