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)