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)