ICMI proffers cadres for vice presidential staff

ICMI proffers cadres for vice presidential staff

JAKARTA (JP): The acting chairman of the Association of the
Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI), Achmad Tirtosudiro,
confirmed yesterday that the association had proposed some of its
cadres to be staff members in the vice presidential office.

"Pak Z.A. Maulani is now at the State Secretariat to propose a
number of ICMI cadres for vice presidential staff positions," he
told reporters after meeting Minister of Home Affairs R. Hartono
at the latter's office.

But he declined to mention their names, saying that he would
wait for the announcement from the State Secretariat.

Several members of ICMI's executive board and board of
advisors, including Adi Sasono, Jimly Asshidique, Sayidiman
Suryohadiprojo, Sofian Effendi and Z.A. Maulani, have been cited
as possible candidates for the posts.

Asked why ICMI was forwarding its members for such positions,
Achmad said that as Vice President, B.J. Habibie would be looking
for assistants who could work with him harmoniously.

"It's natural if Pak Habibie selects people, whom he is
familiar with, to become his assistants," he said.

Habibie, who took the oath of vice presidential office March
11, is still the ICMI chairman, albeit a non-active one, until
the next ICMI congress in 2000.

Habibie handed over the operational leadership role to Achmad
a day after being sworn in as Vice President.

Achmad dismissed speculation that the ICMI cadres were being
forwarded to the vice presidential office because they were not
given seats in the Seventh Development Cabinet.

"No, it's not true. We have proposed ICMI members for the
posts because Pak Habibie knows them well and is used to working
with them," he said.

ICMI was set up as a social organization in Malang, East Java,
in December 1990. President Soeharto is the Association's patron.

Achmad also dismissed allegations that ICMI was a political
organization that people used as a stepping stone to obtain
political positions in the bureaucracy.

"It's not true. Pak Habibie was elected by the people not by
ICMI. He was elected also after the President agreed with his
nomination," he said.

He said that ICMI's mission had been to improve the quality of
the country's human resources ever since its establishment.

"It's natural if a lot of qualified ICMI cadres are then given
office, isn't it?" he asked. (imn)