Muhammadiyah prepares for congress

Muhammadiyah prepares for congress

By Santi WE Soekanto and Wisnu Pramudya

JAKARTA (JP): Leading members of Muhammadiyah will gather
tomorrow in Banda Aceh to prepare for their 43rd congress,
bracing themselves to face a host of issues more important than
the recent hullabaloo about who's going to be next chairman.

The 83-year old reformist Moslem organization will hold its
congress from July 6 to July 10, with President Soeharto opening,
and Vice President Try Sutrisno closing the Rp 2.6 billion (US$
1.2 million) gathering.

Some 3,850 leaders and 20,000 supporters of the organization
are expected to share in the bustle and festivities in the
enchanting, historical capital of the Aceh province, through
which Islam was first brought to the archipelago centuries ago.

The organizing committee has decided to hold a number of
preliminary meetings on issues of national importance, such as
education, the haj pilgrimage, and ways to revitalize Moslems'
entrepreneurship, as well as gender-related programs for its
women organizations, Aisyiyah and Nasyiatul Aisyiah.

The meetings are expected to tackle the nitty-gritty details
of establishing programs for the next five years and have them
ready for adoption by its congress.

One meeting of great importance: the tanwir (law making body)
meeting will be held tomorrow, to select 39 candidates out of
more than 100 registered chairman candidates. This list will be
shortened further, to 13, during the congress; the last batch
will then convene and decide among themselves as to who will be
their top man.

Despite the similarly important nature of its other meetings,
the issue of chairmanship has been overshadowing all other
discussions. Analysts, activists, government officials and
politicians have been busy contributing to the debate about
whether incumbent Amien Rais should stay, or which leader is a
better replacement.

However, there are identifiable patterns in the public debate
over who will be entrusted to carry out the legacy of
Muhammadiyah founder, KH Ahmad Dahlan.

The first of these themes has to do with whether the
organization, whose original goal is to purify the practice of
Islam in Indonesia, needs an intellectual leader more than it
does a traditional ulema.

The question has emerged because, for the first time,
Muhammadiyah's leadership is dominated by people who can be
called intellectuals.

Chairman Amien Rais, for instance, holds a doctorate in
political science from the Chicago University in the U.S. Though
his education was Islamic, (he conducted his research at the Al
Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt), he comes across more as what
many people would call intellectual, rather than what is
traditionally described as a turbaned ulema.

The fact that he's already a leading figure in the government-
backed, and powerful, Association of Indonesian Moslem
Intellectuals enhances the image. It's very probable that the
competition for chairmanship would revolve around this issue,
because the current elites and chairman aspirants come from very
diverse backgrounds.

Some of the most frequently mentioned names, such as Din
Syamsuddin, Lukman Harun, Muqoddas, Syafii Maarif, Yahya
Muhaimin, Sutrisno Muchdam, Rusjdi Hamka and Prodjokusumo, may
disclaim interests to sit at the helm, but the fact that each one
has a different background and supporters promises that the
contest will be a lively one.

A number of people have tried to be helpful by delineating
criterions for suitable figures to lead the organization.
However, this has sparked even more debate because some people
were offended at being pigeonholed.

Lukman and Din were upset because they were categorized by
political observer Afan Gaffar as only seeking financial and
political gains from Muhammadiyah. Amien, on the other hand,
became uncomfortable because he was classified as a loyalist,
thus considered to merit the top seat.

What's interesting from these discourses, for an observer to
be able to predict who's likely to come out as winner, is that
not one person mentioned appears to have adequate backing from
the majority.

There are also related questions about whether Muhammadiyah
will be able to keep its promise to stay out of politics, despite
the many external attempts to drag it into the arena, or to
independently keep its distance from the power circle, without
necessarily having to be an opposition.

Government officials have repeatedly said they would not
intervene in the organization's internal affairs, nor would they
favor one chairman aspirant over another. Leaders of a political
grouping have also said the same thing.

However, the claims and counter-charges have left the
impression that the Muhammadiyah congress would indeed be marked
with external pressures.

As one observer said, "The government might not interfere, but
it would be likely that the ruling Golkar party and the Moslem-
based United Development Party (PPP) wish to play their hands in
the congress".

The fact that Din has a leading position on the Golkar
executive board and Rusjdi Hamka is the chosen man of PPP
leaders, to head the conflict-ridden Jakarta branch of the party,
only fuels the speculations on external intervention.

A number of analysts, as well as Muhammadiyah leaders, have
tried to explain the organization's position on the issues. One
observer described the organization as a partner of the
government, another said it could not be completely independent
because its leading members, including Amien Rais, are much too
close to the power center.

One observer predicted that this proximity would soon cost
Amien his outspokenness. Amien, who grabbed nationwide attention
in 1993 when he proposed public debates on presidential
succession, would probably be meek.

Should Amien win the chairmanship election, the organization
might also lose its independence, Nazaruddin Syamsuddin, from the
University of Indonesia, said.

Congress participants would also have to deal with an issue
which is even more important: the direction and approaches that
Muhammadiyah should take in facing the next century.

Some people have said the socio-education organization used to
deserve its label as a reformist--but not anymore.

In almost any of its activities, a critic said, the current
Muhammadiyah has failed to come up with fresh, creative ideas.
Even in its thousands of schools across the country, Muhammadiyah
has not introduced a specific curriculum of its own, the way it
used to.

"It's probably because general conditions now differ from the
early years of Muhammadiyah, but this should mean that the
organization has to come up with even brighter ideas," political
observer Deliar Noer said.

As for its claim as a reformist, sociologist Mochtar Naim said
that since independence in 1945, Muhammadiyah has never presented
a drive toward reform. Instead, it now only copies whatever
trends or policies are in force, he said.

"The strength of Muhammadiyah now lies in the fact that it has
become a good follower," Mochtar said. "It's playing it safe.
That's not the way to act if you're a reformer. In order to
become one, Muhammadiyah should be brave enough to go it alone,
to go against the current."

Amien said that the upcoming congress would be strategic in
nature because it would be the last congress the organization
will hold this millennium. It would discuss ways to prepare its
members for the greater challenges that the 21st century will
bring, he said.

With all these questions to be handled, it's obvious that the
congress' participants will have their hands full next week.