Moslem congress opens amid fear of disintegration

Moslem congress opens amid fear of disintegration

JAKARTA (JP): Thousands of Moslems congregated on Tuesday at
the Istiqlal Grand Mosque in a forceful campaign against signs of
disintegration in society, with speakers saying that unless
action was taken, the reform movement would end in chaos and
destruction.

Moslem leaders and scholars addressing the opening of the
five-day Indonesian Moslem Congress agreed that outbursts of
public political participation -- including the growth in the
number of political parties -- which followed the collapse of
Soeharto's New Order regime should be tempered with common
idealism and respect for plurality.

Law professor Yusril Ihza Mahendra, who is also chairman of
the Moslem-based Crescent and Star Party (PBB), called for unity
among Islamic parties "so that differences in strategies and
tactics would not mean division and slander."

Ilyas Ruchiyat of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the country's largest
Moslem organization, said "those different parties, they are
bricks of one building, parts of the same body that share pains
so they should also share ideals ... through dialogs."

Moslem scholar Nurcholish Madjid spoke of a "delayed nation
building" because the two previous presidents -- Sukarno and
Soeharto -- had failed to initiate the process.

The growth of political factions now faced by Indonesia should
have happen 52 years ago in the first flourish of independence
after 1945, he said, adding that by stultifying this natural
process the population was now not mature enough for democracy.

"Democracy can't work if people are egotistical and work only
for their own interests," he said.

He outlined the three phases that a nation usually goes
through when facing social change, the first of which is disorder
and disintegration followed by "an explosion of participation."

"We are now at that stage. Everybody wants to make their mark
and participate. It's just like the flow of water into a small
pipe, when it comes out, it comes out in a blast, in an
outburst," he said.

He alluded to the 32 years of Soeharto's rule as the small
pipe; a condition that must never happen again because it would
bring chaos.

"If the outburst is not managed, then we'd have to face the
third stage, namely political egotism (which would lead) to chaos
and destruction," he said.

The congress, he said, was intended to manage the explosion of
people's participation in politics.

The call for unity among Moslem leaders was also voiced by
Amidhan, the chief organizer from the Indonesian Council of
Ulemas.

Minister of Religious Affairs Malik Fajar officially opened
the gathering and President B.J. Habibie is scheduled to close it
on Saturday.

Organizers insisted the congress did not have any political
agenda and was instead a statement of concern over adverse
developments in society -- including public fear induced by the
murder of ulemas in East Java.

Critics have speculated that the congress is a ploy to use
Moslems to seek legitimacy for Habibie's agenda, especially since
the Council of Ulemas used the occasion to call for the upcoming
Special Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) to be
safeguarded.

In a related development, members of the Communication Forum
of Islamic Parties called on the congress to fight for the
abolition of the government stipulation that all parties and
organizations must adopt Pancasila as their sole ideology.

The forum is chaired by Deliar Noer of the Moslem Community
Party, while members included Mohammad Dault of the United Islam
Party and Nur Mahmudi Ismail of the Justice Party. (swe)