ICMI has joined in

ICMI has joined in

Wednesday's statement by the Association of Indonesian Moslem
Intellectuals (ICMI) is surprisingly straightforward in its call
for immediate reform although many might take it as a
better-late-than-never step.

It is true that two other social organizations, Muhammadiyah
and Nahdlatul Ulama, and numerous academics have previously made
similar calls during the nationwide student-led proreform
movement. But ICMI's stance is different. It touches more
sensitive issues which the ruling elite have thus far roundly
opposed.

These include support for the demands for an extraordinary
session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR); branding the
government's latest reform proposal -- given by President
Soeharto to leaders of the political parties and the House of
Representatives -- last week, as "vague, too little and too late"
and criticizing the ruling elite's mentality as being the real
root of all the current crises.

A meeting of the MPR, the country's highest constitutional
body which has met only once every five years during the last
three decades, can lead to the revocation of President Soeharto's
mandate or at least the additional powers provided to him in
March to deal with emergency situations. The powers give him a
free hand to take whatever steps he deems necessary to safeguard
the nation and national development, if and when they are
threatened. The last extraordinary MPR meeting took place in 1966
which pushed president Sukarno to step down.

Wednesday's statement shows that ICMI, which was once said to
be an organization that toed the government line, is still a
group that has its ear to the ground to listen the very heartbeat
of the nation.

ICMI did suffer in its failure to be strongly represented in
the present cabinet, a privilege it enjoyed five years ago, when
the President formed it in March.

Meanwhile many political observers have watched more recent
developments as not wholly pleasing to the organization. Vice
President B.J. Habibie, ICMI's chairman, despite his No.2
position, is not the most influential figure in the government,
because the biggest clout is wielded by Siti Hardijanti Rukmana,
the President's oldest daughter. The reality has made many ICMI
officials realize that the process of the cabinet formation was
merely that ICMI's locomotive was brought inside while the cars
were left in the cold.

However, besides these opinions, ICMI's joining the people in
calling for total reform has a strong influence on the country's
movement toward multidimensional change. It should also convince
any waverers among publicly aware citizens that the movement for
reform has reached a point of no return since so many people have
jumped on to the bandwagon.

This weight is not to be found in the recent statement by the
leaders of the House of Representatives, who said they too
support the idea of reform. The populace, quite properly, sees
their stance as "Johnny come latest."

The people who are now advocating reform believe that change
should take place now or it will be too late to make any
difference. Many also understand that covert proposals for
reform, as announced by the government last week, will act as a
symptomatic painkiller but will not heal the national disease.

ICMI, by its statement, clearly hopes that the people in the
ruling elite will be wise enough to read the signs of the time
correctly and not be too late to climb aboard the reform
bandwagon.