President Habibie losing publicity battle: ICMI

President Habibie losing publicity battle: ICMI

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Ahmad Tirtosudiro, the acting chairman of the
Association of Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI), said on Saturday that
President Habibie appeared to be losing the publicity battle on
the question of his legitimacy.

Ahmad said ICMI, along with many other groups, felt that the
transfer from Soeharto to Habibie in May was in accordance with
the letters of the 1945 Constitution.

But their views do not entirely prevail and he blamed this
partly on the mass media.

"We have to admit that the print and broadcasting media are
dominated by those who do not share this view," he said in a
media briefing after kicking off ICMI's annual conference.

"We lost in the mass media (battle)," he said.

Ahmad denied that ICMI was supporting Habibie's presidency
because the President was its chairman.

"We are independent (of Habibie). If he's right, we support
him. If he errs, we criticize him," he said.

Habibie is technically still the chairman of the influential
Moslem organization. However, state protocol mandated that he
hand over the post to Ahmad, as caretaker, in March after he was
appointed vice president.

In the past, ICMI has provided Habibie with the political
support.

The conference was opened by Sultan Hamengkubuwono X and
attended by more than 300 participants. Several cabinet members
also took part, including Muslimin Nasution (forestry), Adi
Sasono (cooperatives), AM Saefuddin (food and horticulture), Tuty
Alawiyah (women's affairs) and Soleh Shalahuddin (agriculture).

The conference is slated to end on Sunday.

Ahmad ruled out the possibility of turning ICMI into a
political party, or of giving its support to any of the old or
emerging political parties which are contesting the general
election next year.

"But ICMI members are permitted to join any political party of
their own choosing," he said. He pointed out that two members,
Amien Rais and Yusril Ihza Mahendar, lead, respectively, the
People's Mandate Party and the Moon and Crescent Party.

While proclaiming ICMI to be apolitical, Ahmad did comment on
the controversial issue of the sociopolitical role of the Armed
Forces (ABRI).

Ahmad, a former Army general, said ABRI's role should be
retained, albeit in a smaller proportion, but he also insisted
that the military also publicly announced that it would not
support any of the political parties at the next election.

ICMI would like to see a significant reduction in the number
of ABRI seats in the House of Representatives, he said, without
committing to any specific figure.

He said an outright elimination of ABRI's sociopolitical role
would be detrimental to the country. "We still feel the trauma of
a completely civilian government. We have tried it before and it
didn't work," he said. The trauma he referred to was the civilian
government of president Sukarno in the 1950s and 1960s.

He said the presence of ABRI's officers in civilian posts in
central and regional administrations in the future should be
limited on a needs basis only. (swa/44/emb)