Muhammadiyah calls for national unity

Muhammadiyah calls for national unity

JAKARTA (JP): In the wake of the threat of national
disintegration, Muslim organization Muhammadiyah has reminded the
government and all parts of the country to renew their commitment
to the settlement of crises.

Commission E deliberating the recommendations of the ongoing
Muhammadiyah congress agreed on Monday to call on the government
and the political elite to refrain from controversy, saying it
would only cause anxiety among the people and lead to
instability.

"We demand that all political forces represented in political
parties, the House of Representatives, the government and other
state institutions unite their vision and commitment to solutions
to crises and support for good governance," a statement from the
commission read.

The statement underscored the concern of the congress of
selfishness among government officials and political parties,
which it said needed addressing immediately.

The government, it also said, should make performance
advancement, corruption, collusion and nepotism eradication and
public accountability its top priorities.

"Political tension that rocked Maluku, Aceh, Irian Jaya and
other parts of the country needs serious handling that leads to
social reconciliation instead of just meetings between the
political elite," the statement said.

The country's second largest Muslim organization also called
on the nation to stop the use of violence in political struggles,
saying it would result in fierce communal and interclass
conflicts.

Muhammadiyah will announce its recommendations on Tuesday,
following a series of sessions which have been held since the
congress opened on Saturday.

Another highlight of Tuesday's session will be the election of
the chairman of Muhammadiyah for the next five-year period. It is
almost certain that acting chairman Syafi'i Ma'arif will take the
top post after securing 1,282 votes to top the preliminary
selection of 13 candidates on Sunday evening.

Former chairman of Pemuda Muhammadiyah, the youth wing of
Muhammadiyah, Din Syamsuddin came second to upset former minister
of religious affairs Malik Fadjar, who was earlier considered a
strong candidate.

The 13 nominees will choose among themselves the chairman and
lineup of the central board of executives on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the congress' Commission C for changes in basic
regulations agreed on Monday to scrap state ideology Pancasila as
its basic principle, but voted against Islam as its replacement.

As many as 244 members of the commission agreed to vote to
decide whether Islam should be mentioned in the organization's
statute following a deadlock. In a surprise decision, 136 members
rejected the formal incorporation of Islam into the statute,
against 108 who were in favor.

National Mandate Party (PAN) deputy chairman A.M. Fatwa, who
is also a member of Muhammadiyah's supervisory board, expressed
discontent with the vote result on Monday, saying that an
organization should have a basic principle.

"It's not the final result. I will speak in the plenary
session (on Tuesday) to review the commission's decision," Fatwa,
who is the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives,
contended.

Muhammadiyah activist and political observer Bachtiar Effendy
said he understood the dissatisfaction, adding that basic
principles were no longer a significant issue.

"Muhammadiyah is not a political party. The most important
thing is that Pancasila is no longer recognized as our founding
statute," Bachtiar, a doctoral graduate from Ohio State
University and lecturer at the State Institute of Islamic Studies
(IAIN), said.

Muhammadiyah was founded by noted Muslim preacher Ahmad Dahlan
in Yogyakarta in 1912. The organization did not adopt Islam as
its official basic principle until 1959.

Under the repressive government of former president Soeharto,
all mass organizations, including Muhammadiyah, were obliged to
acknowledge Pancasila as their solitary basic principle. (jun)