ICMI 'not to seek' cabinet positions
SURABAYA (JP): An executive of the Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI) said here Saturday the organization, known for its political clout, would not seek any cabinet positions.
Secretary-general Adi Sasono said the organization would not recommend any members for the next cabinet, scheduled to be established in 1998.
"ICMI is an organization of intellectuals which since its inception does not wish to be involved in practical politics. We've always tried to avoid any political entanglement," he told The Jakarta Post.
Adi was commenting on the possibility of ICMI members being recruited as ministers. Several ministers in the current cabinet are ICMI leaders, including Minister of Education Wardiman Djojonegoro, Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Azwar Anas, and Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto.
Some political analysts have suggested this reflected the success of ICMI's political lobbying. ICMI leaders have refuted the speculation, as its chairman B.J. Habibie, who is State Minister for Research and Technology, is actually among the longest serving ministers in President Soeharto's cabinet.
He became Soeharto's aide in 1978, while ICMI was only established in 1990. Habibie has been known for years as President Soeharto's confidante.
It has often been suggested that ICMI heralded the period when Moslems, who were politically marginalized in the past, improved their relations with the government. President Soeharto and Vice President Try Sutrisno are both patrons of the organization, albeit in their personal capacities.
Adi said the recruitment of ICMI members to the current cabinet, which was set up in 1993, should be attributed to the individuals' capabilities and acceptability and "not because they're ICMI members".
"Besides, it's the President's prerogative to appoint ministers. It's irrational and illogical to say that ICMI has played a part in (the recruitment)."
Adi said some political observers' analysis was unfair. "Many ICMI members are not included in the current cabinet, including (former environment minister) Emil Salim. Billi Joedono (former minister of trade), in fact, was dismissed from the cabinet (in 1995)," he said.
Adi said there were more important issues that should be addressed by the next cabinet, namely justice, the equal distribution of resources, and democratization.
"No matter who sits in the next cabinet should be more sensitive toward those matters. Our people have become more intelligent and more demanding of those subjects," he said.
Only with justice, equal distribution and democratization can a healthy and dynamic stability be achieved, said Adi. He was in town to sign a cooperation agreement between the Center for Information and Development Studies (CIDES), which he chairs, and the East Java regional development planning board for studies on markets for the province's prime products.
"The next cabinet should be more attuned to the fate of the common people, who are the majority of our population. Their life is at stake in the increasingly stiff social competition," he said. (nur/swe)