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.