President Soeharto opens Muhammadiyah congress

President Soeharto opens Muhammadiyah congress

By Santi WE Soekanto and Wisnu Pramudya

BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): The 43rd congress of the Islamic
organization Muhammadiyah will be opened by President Soeharto
this morning, amid celebrations by thousands of Moslems who have
been assembling here over the past week.

Thousands of students will treat the President, cabinet
ministers, and senior officials to a traditional cultural
performance. Several Acehnese dances, including the famous
Seudati, have been practicing for the performance for weeks.

Several high-ranking officials, including Minister of Home
Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M., State Minister of Research and
Technology B.J. Habibie, Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi
Taher and Armed Forces Commander Gen. Feisal Tanjung, will
deliver speeches at the opening ceremony.

The congress, to be attended by some 3,000 leading members of
Muhammadiyah, from branches throughout Indonesia, is expected to
discuss issues which are important for the organization's
survival into the coming century.

Topics for deliberation include human resources development,
improving the welfare of the Moslem community, the propagation of
Islam. Internal organizational affairs will also be addressed.

Several preliminary meetings, including some focussing on
various contemporary issues, have been held here since Sunday.

A meeting of the Tanwir, the organization's law-making body,
ended yesterday after selecting a shortlist of 41 candidates for
the chairmanship from the 85 registered nominees.

The meeting, which had been scheduled to conclude on Monday,
had difficulty in reaching a decision regarding the second round
of candidates for the chairmanship and had to be extended late
into Tuesday night before being formally closed yesterday. It was
marked by heated debates, especially concerning the problem of
candidates tallying the same number of votes.

Presided over by chairman Amien Rais, the 137 members Tanwir
eventually agreed to increase the number of candidates from the
planned 39 to 41. The unprecedented decision thus accommodated
Lukman Harun, a prominent candidate and former vice chairman, and
two other nominees: Immawan Wahyudi and Chusnan Yusuf.

"This is a historic decision for us," Amien said.

Observers at the congress believe that the inclusion of the
controversial former vice chairman did not necessarily mean that
the Tanwir fully supported him. They said that the decision,
recommended by Amien Rais, was merely the "best option", given
the prolonged discussion and the possibility of the meeting
running aground again.

"Lukman might not make it to the final round," an observer
said of the senior activist whose campaign to enter into the race
had created polarized groups within the meeting.

The list will be brought to a plenary session on Saturday,
during which participants will name a 13-strong central executive
board. Board members will then convene and decide who, among
them, will lead the organization for the next five years.

The other meetings held over the past three days included the
Majelis Tarjih (in charge of preparing and issuing religious
decrees, or fatwa), which ended last night.

Hundreds of ulemas, including those from some neighboring
countries, participated in the gathering. They recommended a
series of actions that Muhammadiyah needed to take in facing
future challenges, including the threats posed by information
globalization.

"Muhammadiyah should handle issues of ordinary life, such as
the potentially harmful television programs," said participant
Abdul Djalil Ya'cob, a lecturer at the Ar-Raniry State Institute
for Islamic Studies in Banda Aceh.

A meeting between 130 ulemas and activists from Indonesia,
Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia was also held yesterday. The
meeting decided to propose the establishment of a regional
Muhammadiyah forum.

Jamal Tukimin, a Muhammadiyah activist from Singapore,
proposed the establishment of a joint secretariat to facilitate
cooperation among Muhammadiyah branches in ASEAN member
countries.

"We need to design integrated strategies for our religious
propagation," he said.

Abdul Wahab of Malaysia said that among the planned activities
to be launched soon is the sending of Islamic propagation
missions to some non-Moslem communities in the region, including
Vietnam.