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)