Muhammadiyah yet to agree on candidates
Muhammadiyah yet to agree on candidates
By Santi WE Soekanto and Wisnu Pramudya
BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): After hours of tough deliberation
yesterday, Muhammadiyah leaders failed yet again to name the 39
candidates for chairman.
The Tanwir meeting, which was in charge of short-listing the
number of registered candidates from 85 to 39, was supposed to
conclude Monday evening but it ran aground.
The meeting participants were reportedly unable to agree on
how to solve the problem of candidates tallying the same number
of votes.
Chairman Amien Rais disclosed here yesterday that the
participants of the Tanwir meeting, which is a prelude to the
congress to be opened by President Soeharto on July 6, had voted
and named 38 candidates.
In the 39th rank, however, there were four persons who
received 52 votes each. They are former vice chairman Lukman
Harun, Imawan Wahyudi, Chusnan Yusuf, and another man, whose name
Amien refused to mention.
The fourth person has reportedly resigned from the contest.
Lukman, responding to his precarious position, held a press
conference during which he questioned the legality of an extended
meeting. Visibly upset, he said the Tanwir meeting should return
its mandate to the organization's central board, advising its
members to take "emergency action".
Amien told The Jakarta Post that Lukman, with whom he had
reportedly been at odds, has a possibility to get on the
shortened list. "I feel he's in," he said.
He said that the Tanwir meeting had failed to meet the
deadline for some "technical reasons".
A source close to Amien also told the Post that the Tanwir
meeting had in fact asked the executive board to find a solution
to the problem.
The 13 members of the outgoing board met for several hours
yesterday afternoon and came up with three alternatives, who were
to be chosen in the Tanwir meeting last night.
The first option, according to the source, is to "accommodate"
every aspiring candidate by increasing the number of nominees to
41.
The sources said that if this option is adopted, Amien would
likely be under great pressure from some Muhammadiyah activists,
especially the youths, who are opposed to Lukman's inclusion on
the first list of 85 candidates.
Lukman has been criticized for what his opponents have called
politicking activities.
The second alternative is to reduce the number of candidates
from 39 to 38, thereby dropping the three in 39th place.
"But it's very unlikely, because it would create an
uncomfortable situation," the source said. "Besides, it would
mean that Muhammadiyah, as an organization, has failed to heed
its members' aspirations."
"Furthermore, to drop Lukman from the list would only create
a problem," the source said.
The final alternative is to leave the Tanwir meeting, which
involved around 100 senior members, to "choose one from among the
three odd people".
The source said he believed that the meeting would eventually
pick the first option, as it would mean less hassle.
In addition, Amien has told Lukman that he will push for the
first alternative, the source said.
Th source also said that it would be unwise for the meeting to
let Lukman, a senior activist, compete with the two young
aspirants, Imawan and Chusnan."
Imawan is a deputy rector of the Ahmad Dahlan University in
Yogyakarta, while Chusnan is a Muhammadiyah activist in Malang,
East Java.
The source compared the situation to a fight between a long-
time champion and a newcomer. "Winning or losing, he'll still be
embarrassed," he said.
Meanwhile, hundreds of ulemas from Muhammadiyah and other
organizations, including those from Thailand, Malaysia and
Singapore, held a separate meeting to discuss the issues of labor
and culture from Islamic perspectives.
Opening the gathering, Amien said Moslem organizations need to
address contemporary issues and set up guidelines on how to deal
with them.