Moehono elected chairman of PCPP

Moehono elected chairman of PCPP

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Maj. Gen. (ret) Moehono was elected chairman
of the Association of Intellectuals for Pancasila Development
(PCPP) in its first congress that ended here last night.

Rubianto Wisman, a professor of agriculture from the Sudirman
University of Purwokerto, Central Java, was appointed secretary
general of the organization established in July.

As widely expected, the congress' electoral board appointed
Sambas Wirakusumah deputy chairman.

In the tense election, Moehono -- rector of Jakarta's
Krisnadwipayana University -- was closely tailed by Sambas, one
of the association's founders.

Congress sources said that the names of other members of the
executive board will be announced in Jakarta in about one month.

Moehono had succeeded in securing the open support of a number
of organizations, including SOKSI, which is affiliated with the
ruling Golkar, and nationalist student group GMNI.

A congress source told The Jakarta Post that there were
divisions and different political leanings among members of the
organization which, at its inception, disavowed political
interests.

"This organization is indeed a political asset," said the
source, one of the organization's co-founders.

The source, who requested anonymity, said SOKSI and GMNI were
trying to impose their wishes on the organization, adding that
prospective members of ICKI, a planned association of
intellectuals which never came into existence, had also tried to
influence the outcome.

Political observer Riswandha Imawan of Yogyakarta's Gadjah
Mada University said the congress, which was opened by Moehono
after not one senior official accepted the invitation to
inaugurate it, was poorly organized.

"This congress only reinforces the view that it (the
organization) was established to mass people together," he said.
"An organization like this should first establish statutes,
rather than making noises about chairmanship candidates."

"This is why we have to question this organization's ability
to heed people's aspirations," he added.

Riswandha said the PCPP had "caught a disease" which the
Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals had had for some
time; namely, the tendency toward centralization.

"Everything comes from above...This is an organization of
command. Those in the lower rungs of the organization need only
adjust to those above them," he said. (har/mun/swe)