Professor named acting boss of Muhammadiyah

Professor named acting boss of Muhammadiyah

JAKARTA (JP): Amien Rais, an outspoken professor from Gadjah
Mada University, Yogyakarta, was elected acting chairman of
Muhammadiyah, one of Indonesia's most influential Moslem
organizations.

Members of the Muhammadiyah executive board unanimously
elected the 50-year-old political scientist on Saturday to
replace Ahmad Azhar Basyir, who died late last month.

Amien, a deputy chairman and once Basyir's strongest contender
in the 1990 election, will hold his new position until July 1995
when Muhammadiyah elects its definitive chairman, organization
spokesman Rusydi Hamka told journalists.

Amien will be inaugurated during a Muhammadiyah gathering in
Jakarta scheduled for December.

The meeting will also discuss preparations for the 43rd
Muhammadiyah Congress to be held in Banda Aceh from July 1 to
July 5 next year, Rusydi said.

Amien is a professor in the International Relations department
at the Yogyakarta-based university.

He is also an executive board member of the influential
Association of Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI).

Amien, however, denied that his involvement in ICMI had
anything to do with his election. He refuted the theory that his
election was due to government connections.

Amien, well known for his demand that transparent mechanisms
govern the presidential succession, promised that he would not
change his posture.

He vowed that the organization would keep the same distance
from the country's three political parties, allowing its members
the freedom to affiliate with any of them.

"But they must maintain their integrity and stick to
Muhammadiyah's amar ma'ruf nahi mungkar (principle to defend what
is right and shun anything wrong and evil)," he said.

Muhammadiyah, which was established in 1912 by KH Ahmad
Dahlan, now runs thousands of schools, hospitals and orphanages.
Its officials and members like to call the organization
"reformist." (prs)