Intellectual group seeks top leader
Intellectual group seeks top leader
JAKARTA (JP): A new intellectual organization founded last
month by lecturers at General Soedirman University in Purwokerto,
Central Java, is looking for a leader of national stature in line
with its goal to expand beyond its campus borders.
Iswanto, deputy coordinator of the Persatuan Cendekiawan
Pembangunan Pancasila (Association of Intellectuals for Pancasila
Development) or PCPP for short, said that the founders hope to
contact two senior cabinet ministers, Edi Sudradjat and Siswono
Yudohusodo, to discuss the leadership position.
Iswanto did not specifically say whether these two were
regarded as possible candidates for the job but stressed the
organization is counting on their support and patronage.
He told Antara that the PCPP leader must be an intellectual of
"national or even international caliber" so that the organization
could advance.
He added that PCPP is a national, rather than a local
organization.
Edi, a retired Army general, is the minister of defense and
security, while Siswono is minister of transmigration. Both men
are known for their strong nationalist persuasions and have in
the past stated their support for the establishment of an
intellectual organization with a more nationalist outlook.
There were no immediate takers when the two ministers proposed
the idea last year. But staff lecturers at General Soedirman
seized the initiative and announced the establishment of PCPP on
July 29 this year.
The founders have denied that they are an alternative forum to
the religion-based intellectual organizations that have sprung up
and grown in strength in recent years.
The Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals, for
example, is considered to have gained political clout under the
leadership of State Minister of Research and Technology B.J.
Habibie.
Iswanto said that before selecting its leaders or approaching
the prospective figures for the positions, PCPP must first
fulfill the administrative requirements as ruled by the 1985 Law
on Mass Organizations.
The law states that the minister of home affairs is the patron
of all mass organizations.
The new organization's founders therefore hope to travel to
Jakarta soon to meet with Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie
S.M. to discuss the establishment of the PCPP, he said.
"We want to explain to the ministers the background of the
organization, its principles and objectives and its activities,"
Iswanto said.
The founders also hope to meet with Edi Sudradjat and travel
to other parts of Java, including Malang, Bandung, Surabaya and
Medan, he added. (emb)