ICMI begins second congress
ICMI begins second congress
By Santi WE Soekanto
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto will open today the second
congress of the Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals, a
Rp 2 billion (US$ 878,734) gathering of some 1,000 leading
members.
The Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI) has
been preparing for this event with great fanfare and bustle. It
held numerous seminars, discussions, exhibitions and other
activities on Islam, the economy, politics and technology.
As its leader claimed, the influential association was trying
to translate its main goals, known locally as programs of Imtaq
and Iptek, into reality. The terms are abbreviations of the words
"faith", "piety", "science" and "technology".
The terms sum up the goals of ICMI: to establish a new breed
of good quality Moslems who are useful to the environment they
live in.
However, faith, science and technology may not be the only
things on which the congress will have to focus its attention.
There are a host of other issues to tend to: from its
perceived proximity to power holders and alleged lack of
independence, to rifts between members, so-called elitist
programs, and accusations that ICMI is a mere political tool for
certain interests groups.
Chairman
Unlike the congresses of other Moslem-based organizations,
however, the period running up to the congress has been
relatively devoid of controversies over who will be elected
chairman.
There were some discussions about whether incumbent chairman
B.J. Habibie should be re-elected, or whether the organization
should display its independence by electing someone else.
There is only a handful of proponents for the second line of
thought, including legislator A.M. Saefuddin of the United
Development Party, but the idea has not endured.
It seems that the re-election of Habibie, who is also minister
of research and technology, is already a foregone conclusion in
the minds of many people.
Even groups standing in opposite camps within the
organization, those who are close to Habibie and those who stand
slightly apart, agree that Habibie is the man for the job.
"I believe 99.9 percent of all ICMI members in Jakarta want
Habibie to retain the position," said Lukman Harun, a leading
member of the Jakarta branch.
Sources told The Jakarta Post that the numerous preliminary
elections at the hundreds of ICMI units across the country saw
Habibie's name smoothly rising to the top.
Adi Sasono, director of the Center for Information and
Development Studies, a think tank of ICMI, confirmed this.
There are several other names that obtain wide support, such
as former minister of environment Emil Salim, chairman of Jakarta
branch Ahmad Tirtosudiro and international relation expert Amien
Rais, but Habibie is still at the top.
Habibie himself has never said outright that he was willing to
be nominated. Responding to questions about whether President
Soeharto would approve if he were reelected, Habibie said he's
confident Soeharto "would heed the public's wish".
The key to whether Habibie will or will not stay at the helm
of the organization, indeed, depends on President Soeharto's
approval.
Apart from the serious controversy over the chairmanship, ICMI
finds itself under growing criticism by various parties.
Adi Sasono and other leading members have been spending a fair
amount of time debating and deflecting accusations. One of the
most frequent accusations hurled at ICMI is that it's too
dependent on Habibie, "the super minister" who happens to be a
close confidant of President Soeharto.
Critics have linked the question of independence with the
issue of chairmanship, arguing that replacing Habibie with
another figure would help cut the association's umbilical cord
with the bureaucracy.
Habibie dismissed the arguments, as did a number of other
leaders. The question of ICMI's perceived proximity with the
power holders, however, evoked stronger reactions.
"For an organization to be independent, does it necessarily
have to stand in opposition with the power holders?" Adi Sasono
retorted.
He pointed out that ICMI has performed well during the past
five years since its inception in 1990 because of a "well-laid
system".
In addition, "it's not even enough to be close to the power
holders," Adi said. "We should be that power. If we want to bring
changes to society, we should do it from within (the system)".
Related to the issue of independence is the organization's
political leaning.
Despite the leaders' repeated assertion that ICMI is not a
political organization, people accused it of dabbling in elite
politics. The organization was behind the appointment of many
Moslem activists to some influential positions, critics charged.
Other critics have said that ICMI has become a mere tool for
the power holders to mobilize the increasingly influential
Moslems, especially those from the middle class.
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