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)