Muhammadiyah defends its involvement in politics
Muhammadiyah defends its involvement in politics
Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Malang
Despite its pledge to stay away from politics, Muhammadiyah says
its decision to give its support to last year's failed
presidential bid by Amien Rais was not a violation of its
nonpartisanship.
Muhammadiyah leaders and members said their organization's
support for Amien's presidential nomination should not be
considered a "political mistake" by Muhammadiyah, although it
decided in 1971 to give up its involvement in politics.
Backing Amien for the presidency was a "responsible choice in
a transitional situation to save the nation and the continuity of
the reform movement", outgoing Muhammadiyah leader Ahmad Syafii
Maarif said on Monday.
Presenting a report on his leadership to the organization's
central board, he said, however, that Muhammadiyah must focus on
its role as a socio-religious organization, and stay clear of
practical politics.
"It must also remain consistent to its propagation and tajdid
(reform) missions in this lovely country," Syafii added.
He claimed that Amien's failure to get through the first round
of the July 5 presidential election should be considered a
"valuable lesson" for Muhammadiyah, and should not spark an
internal conflict.
Similarly, young Muhammadiyah intellectuals said they could
accept the move to support Amien's bid, although they referred to
it as a "political accident".
"It was merely a political accident that was unavoidable,"
former Muhammadiyah youth leader and current Golkar Party
legislator Hajrianto Thohari told a discussion on Monday, without
elaborating.
However, he stopped short of saying that Muhammadiyah should
prevent such a "political accident" from happening again in the
future.
Amien, a former Muhammadiyah chairman who also previously
chaired the People's Consultative Assembly, was nominated for the
presidency by the National Mandate Party (PAN), but was ejected
in the first round.
Current Muhammadiyah youth leader A. Mufthi gave a similar
assessment and said that there had been nothing wrong with his
organization's decision to back Amien in the presidential race.
"It was just a political accident (for Muhammadiyah) but not a
political mistake that must be corrected in the future," he told
The Jakarta Post. "What's wrong with our giving support to Amien
in the presidential election?"
Mufthi argued that under its statutes, the 30-million strong
organization is banned from supporting a political party, but not
a presidential candidate, particularly one hailing from within
its own ranks.
In what is seen by many as a confused stance on politics by
Muhammadiyah, the organization allows its executives to also hold
positions in political parties. Currently, many executives of the
organization at both the central and local levels serve in a
variety of political organizations, particularly PAN.
Such double standards are being applied despite Muhammadiyah's
decision to cease its political engagement. This was agreed on
during its 1971 national congress in Makassar, South Sulawesi.
The ongoing six-day congress of Muhammadiyah, being held in
the East Java city of Malang until July 8, looks set to continue
the status quo and leave the decision unchanged.