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)