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.