Ismail Hasan not above being corrected

By Santi WE Soekanto

JAKARTA (JP): "If I am right, follow me. Whenever I am wrong, correct me," Ismail Hasan Metareum said five years ago when he was first elected chairman of the United Development Party (PPP).

He was quoting a famous saying by the first Caliph, Abu Bakar Asshiddiq, when the friend of Prophet Muhammad took up the Moslem leadership following the Prophet's death 14 centuries ago.

It is told that at that time, another friend of the Prophet, Umar bin Khattab, who succeeded Abu Bakar, declared boldly, "When you go astray, I will personally straighten you up with my sword."

Ismail Hasan might not be lucky enough to have such an honest friend as Umar bin Khattab, but he apparently is considered "right" enough to merit another term at the helm of the Moslem- based party.

When the third congress of PPP concluded on Thursday with his re-election, Ismail Hasan did not attempt to make the same offer for people to correct him in his leadership. Instead, he repeated the same promise he made five years ago that he will not punish those who opposed or even "rebelled" against him.

"I will not recall (from the House of Representatives: DPR) any activists of PPP (who opposed me)," he said five years ago. "I want to create a calm, peaceful and serene situation within the party."

This time, he also vowed that he will not shove away those who in recent months have become his "foes" and fought hard to oust him.

"I will not recall any of them, they can continue their work within the party peacefully," he said on Thursday, in reference to his former secretary-general Matori Abdul Djalil, junior colleague Sri Bintang Pamungkas and several other figures.

Despite wide criticism of his style of leadership during the past five years, Ismail Hasan is resolute that he will maintain his low-profile and "calm" approach to the party's management.

Preference

Many younger people might prefer the "explosive" style of Sri Bintang Pamungkas, and the ulemas of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) faction might favor Matori Abdul Djalil's agreeable style, but the re-election of Ismail Hasan says a lot for his preference for a "calm" leadership.

Over the last five years, he never displayed any emotional outburst, even when criticism came hard and fast against his effectiveness as a leader.

In the last general election in 1992, Ismail Hasan was branded ineffective because he was only able to increase the party's vote by one percent. Consequently, PPP got only one additional seat in the House of Representatives, up from the previous 61 seats, which was a far cry from his 1987 vow that he would increase PPP's portion in the parliament to 100 seats.

In 1992, PPP obtained 17 percent of the vote, coming a far second behind the ruling functional group Golkar which won 68 percent. The third party, the populist Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) took 15 percent of the vote. In the previous elections in 1987, PPP reaped 16 percent of the vote, Golkar 73 percent and PDI 11 percent.

A native of Aceh, Ismail Hasan is the fourth of six children in the family of Teungku Hasan. Some years ago, the 65-year old man added "Metareum" to his name in order not to be confused with a colleague with the same name.

Ismail Hasan's quotation of the Caliph's saying upon his election in 1989 was not out of character. In Aceh, a "teungku" is a Moslem leader and gets the same respect as the "kyai" in Javanese Moslem culture.

Ismail Hasan received his early religious training in Metareum, the small village where he was born some eight kilometers from Sigli, the capital of Sigli Aceh Pidie regency.

After finishing high school in Jakarta in 1952, he went to the Law School at the University of Indonesia and joined the influential Moslem students organization, HMI.

Between 1955 and 1957, he became deputy chairman of HMI. He spent three years as chairman of the organization.

It was during this time that Ismail Hasan had the chance to really stand out among his peers. He led HMI in stating disagreement over the plan of the first president, Sukarno, to dissolve the House of Representatives and replace it with another legislative body to be manned by people he personally hand- picked.

Ismail said at that time that Sukarno's plan violated the Constitution and would open the House's door to elements of the now outlawed Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). When Sukarno asked HMI to send three members to be seated at the House, Ismail Hasan refused.

Ismail Hasan married Maryani in 1961 and now has five children.

Ismail Hasan, who is usually called Buya (father), joined the Partai Muslimin Indonesia (Parmusi) before the 1971 general elections, and was subsequently posted to the House of Representatives (DPR).

In late 1972 and early 1973, Parmusi merged with three other Moslem organizations (Syarikat Islam, Nahdlatul Ulama and Perti) to form the United Development Party (PPP). Since then, Ismail Hasan's name has been closely linked with the party.

In 1989, he replaced the flamboyant Jaelani Naro, who led the party since the 1970s, despite never having announced his intention to run for chairmanship.

"It's fate, something which I never expected," he said after his election in 1989, adding that he had actually been "struggling" to put another PPP leader, Hartono Mardjono, at the helm, when the second PPP congress suddenly changed course and his name began circulating among members of the electoral board.

Military

Ismail Hasan has always been known for his close relations with military circles. He was a student soldier in Aceh during the revolutionary years of the 1940s.

In the 1970s, Ismail Hasan taught at his alma mater. In 1981, after then minister of education Daoed Joesoef prohibited staff lecturers at state universities from getting involved in politics, he left the University of Indonesia, and started teaching at the Tarumanagara private university. He was later appointed dean of the law school there.

Early this year, Ismail Hasan said he wanted the party's third congress, which concluded Thursday, to proceed as democratically as possible.

There are people, like Bintang and Matori, who think that the just concluded congress of the party was not democratic.

However, Ismail used his acceptance speech to hammer home his conviction that "all is well that ends well" and that the congress had heeded the principles of democracy.

"This congress proceeded better than the previous congresses," he said. "We should be thankful that we did not encounter any obstacles in carrying out this event."