Intellectual organizations need regulations

Intellectual organizations need regulations

JAKARTA (JP): Members of the House of Representatives
yesterday urged the government to regulate the activities of
intellectual associations amidst signs that their presence is
affecting the political climate in the country.

The House's Commission II on domestic politics said during a
plenary hearing that the establishment of these associations and
their activities are sowing public confusion, especially now that
they appear to be treading into the political arena.

The chief concern is that membership in these intellectual
associations is based on religious or sectarian lines, said Amru
Al Mu'Tasyim, who was speaking on behalf of his colleagues in
Commission II.

The appeal came amidst signs that there is a rift within
members of President Soeharto's cabinet, particularly between
B.J. Habibie, who chairs the increasingly influential Association
of Islamic Intellectuals (ICMI), and Siswono Yudohusodo, who has
been widely predicted to head the new Association of Nationalist
Intellectuals (ICKI).

Habibie, the state minister of research and technology, and
Siswono, the minister of transmigration, have been locked in a
war of words over the past week after Siswono publicly accused
Habibie's ICMI of indulging in politics.

Individuals

Siswono acknowledged that ICMI members may have been acting in
their individual capacities when making political statements, but
too often they have still carried the ICMI tag, making their
intentions difficult to distinguish.

He also deplored that PIKI, the Association of Christian
Intellectuals, was revived after having been dormant for years,
and that this was followed by the establishment of ISKA
(Catholic), ICMI (Islam) and FCHI (Hindu).

Habibie, responding to Siswono's charges, denied that
individual ICMI members represent the association when they are
in political circles.

He pointed out that ICMI welcomes intellectuals of any
political affiliation and that some of the association's
executives hold high posts in political parties including Golkar
and the United Development Party.

Commission II of the House yesterday proposed that the
government move to unite these intellectual organizations under
one umbrella and defuse potential conflicts among them.

By bringing them into one group, all the intellectual
potential that they offer could be combined and directed toward
developing the country without conflicts over the interests of
individual groups, it said in its report.
Violation

Spokesman Amru also said the establishment of these
associations may have violated the law on mass organizations.
"They should reorganize these associations so they comply with
the law."

Most of the criticisms have been leveled against ICMI, by far
the biggest and politically the most influential of all the
intellectual associations.

ICMI, which has established chapters in the regions,
government agencies and even Indonesian embassies abroad, is
reported to have been influential in the formation of Golkar's
executive board last October. Many people associated with ICMI
now also sit on Soeharto's cabinet.

The power of ICMI has been such that its chairman, Habibie,
has been tipped to be one of the strongest contenders to replace
President Soeharto when he steps down in 1998.

The establishment of ICKI, led by former cabinet minister
Alamsyah Perwiranegara, has been seen as a manifestation of
dissatisfaction with ICMI's growing power.

Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister of Political and Security
Affairs Soesilo Soedarman appealed to the intellectual community
in Indonesia to stay politically neutral and not to be affected
by attempts to sway them to serve certain political interests.

Speaking in Yogyakarta on Sunday, Soesilo said the
intellectual community should remain united and avoid being
"compartamentalized."

"Whatever they do, they should place the country's unity above
personal or group interests," he said as quoted by Antara. (par)