List of potential leaders emerge in ICMI congress

List of potential leaders emerge in ICMI congress

JAKARTA (JP): Reports about the effort of the "bureaucracy" to influence leaders' elections at the congress of the influential Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI) emerged only hours after opening ceremony yesterday.

A list of names of people who are expected to man the 1995- 2000 executive board, began circulating among participants amidst reports that there are leading members of the outgoing executive board who insisted on inclusion despite lack of support.

Political observer Amien Rais, assistant to chairman B.J. Habibie on the outgoing executive board, told The Jakarta Post, that most of the names in the list were derived from preliminary elections at the organization's 434 regional branches and units.

According to ICMI statutes, the list should be brought to the congress for further elections. An electorate council has to be established; it will then be entrusted with the task of appointing "an electorate team", which will decide among themselves who will be chairman and who will sit on various posts.

Well-informed sources told the Post the list is practically "settled" and that there was only small room for changes. "It's already established, so there's actually no need for the congress to hold elections," one source said.

Attended by some 1,200 leading members, the congress proper got underway with the election of a panel of congress chairs.

Among those elected were Marwah Daud, a leading member of Golkar, and Dr. Ahmad Watik Pratiknya, a leading member of the outgoing executive board who is close to both chairman Habibie and executive secretary Wardiman Djojonegoro, who is also Minister of Education and Culture.

Afan Gaffar, a colleague of Amien's at Gajah Mada University in Yogyakarta, said the list generally reflects an effort to accommodate various groups within the organization.

It contains the names of some top bureaucrats, such as Wardiman, as well as activist such as Adi Sasono, director of the Center for Information and Development Studies, a think-tank of ICMI.

Senior journalist Nasir Tamara said the list also accommodates "outspoken critics" of both ICMI and the establishment, such as legislator A.M. Saefuddin and political observer Fachry Ali.

Included in the list, besides Habibie as chairman, are Amien Rais, Adi Sasono, Marwah Daud, senior journalists Nasir Tamara and Parni Hadi, Afan, and former minister of environment Emil Salim.

The list of names itself already constitutes a line-up of the executive board and other supporting agencies. It consists of a chairman, 10 deputy chairmen, one secretary general, 45 members of the board of experts, 28 members of the advisory board, and 10 chairs of various departments.

Emil Salim, whose name has repeatedly cropped up as Habibie's potential contender during the preliminary elections, should be chosen as the chairman of the advisory board. Amien will reportedly be posted as chairman of the board of experts.

If adopted, the list would then represent a structural revamp of the organization's leadership, something which some critical members had been asking for. The outgoing executive board has one chairman, a number of assistants, an executive secretary, a board of experts and an advisory board.

Some members, such as Jakarta branch leader Lukman Harun, however, demanded that an election of some sorts be held on the floor, if only as a formality.

Afan Gaffar said the list also reflects a convergence of two camps: ICMI members at the grassroots, and those in power. Despite the presence of some top bureaucrats, the list reflects a move away from the clutch of bureaucrats which has dominated the organization for the first five years of its existence, he pointed out.

However, a Post source said that certain parties in the bureaucracy have already forced their will on the organization. The inclusion of some bureaucrats in the list proved this, he pointed out.

The source also said that one name among the top ten of the list was actually absent in the previous elections. The candidate, an influential figure in domestic politics, reportedly used intimidation to have his name included.

Wardiman, however, claimed the new leadership would adequately represent "two channels of aspirations": the first is the wish of the "grassroots", the other is that of the "functional groups" such as experts of economics, social and political affairs, science and technology. (swe)