Muhammadiyah asks Mochtar to step aside

Muhammadiyah asks Mochtar to step aside

JAKARTA (JP): Muhammadiyah has asked controversial scholar Mochtar Buchori to step down from his rectorship of its Jakarta teachers training institute, IKIP Muhammadiyah, because of his activity in the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).

Muhammadiyah Chairman Amien Rais stressed yesterday that Mochtar's position as chief of PDI Research and Development Agency could encroach on his time to such a degree as to be at the expense of his job at IKIP Muhammadiyah.

Amien told reporters that Muhammadiyah had nothing against any of its members joining PDI or any other political organization but they must not hold structural positions there.

The rectorship of the institute is a full time job, he said. "It would have been the same had he been the head of the research agency at United Development Party or Golkar."

Amien said the Muhammadiyah board in the past had taken similar action against its members in the regions who combined their position as Muhammadiyah executive with those of political organizations. Some even had campaigned for the political organizations. They were all asked to choose one or the other.

There had earlier been speculations that many in Muhammadiyah, an influential Moslem organization, resented Mochtar's decision to join the PDI, an alliance of nationalist and Christian parties.

Mochtar, a regular columnist for The Jakarta Post, had earlier said his chief reason for joining PDI is his admiration for the party's chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri and her programs.

Since he publicly announced that he had joined the PDI last year he has faced dissension from several of his deputies, and protests from some students at the IKIP Muhammadiyah.

Amien said Mochtar did not get along with his deputies in the first place and it is not because of his involvement in PDI. "The resignation of Mochtar in a way is a blessing in disguise because it will allow us to revamp the institute's rectorship."

He said the entire rectorship, including the deputies, will be replaced because they were elected as a packet. "We're trying to be fair and not discriminative."

In addition to his resignation, the Muhammadiyah board has also asked Mochtar to name candidates for his replacement, Amien said. "He presented four names and we approve of them all. Now it's up to the institute's senate to choose its rector."

"I think the problem will be resolved amicably in a few weeks," Amien added. (emb)