Team of Eleven has 'no political interest'

Team of Eleven has 'no political interest'

By Edith Hartanto and Riyadi

JAKARTA (JP): Nurcholish Madjid, the 60-year-old American-
educated Muslim scholar is internationally acclaimed for his
modern ideas on political and social matters.

Born in Jombang -- a small town known as East Java's Santri
town because of a preponderance of traditional Islamic boarding
schools -- the scholar, who is known for his warm, modest, open
and egalitarian manner, is affectionately called Cak Nur by close
friends.

The father of two, Nadia and Ahmad Mikail, and husband of Omi
Komariah, has played a prominent role in society since his
student activist days.

An alumni of the State Institute of Islamic Studies, Syarif
Hidayatullah of Jakarta, Nurcholish was the only student to chair
the influential Indonesian Islamic Students Association for two
consecutive terms: 1967 to 1969 and 1969 to 1971.

Obtaining his doctoral degree in Islamic studies from the
University of Chicago in 1984, Nurcholish is currently rector of
Paramadina Mulya University, Jakarta, which opened last August.

He is also one of the founders of the Independent Election
Monitoring Committee.

Nurcholish believes that the current political chaos plaguing
Indonesia is a prerequisite in the shift to democracy.

"The key to a democratic nation are fair and honest elections.
An election will remedy in part the current political chaos,"
Nurcholish said.

These beliefs propelled him to accept the government's offer
to chair the Team of Eleven, a group of 11 independent figures
assigned to verify political parties eligible for the upcoming
election scheduled for June 7.

The other team members are: political scholars Miriam
Budihardjo, Afan Gaffar, Eep Saefulloh Fatah and Andi A.
Mallarangeng, noted lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution, former deputy
chief justice Adi Andojo, social observers Kastorius Sinaga and
Mulyana W. Kusumah and student activists Anas Urbaningrum and
Rama Pratama.

"If Bu (Mrs) Miriam and the rest of the group had not been
chosen, I would not have accepted the offer. This is a very tough
job; we have less than a month to screen more than a hundred
political parties."

The team's objective is to help the Election Committee which
will be formed soon. Many commentators have proposed that the
government appoint him a member of the election committee but
Nurcholish said he would not accept the invitation.

"No way, not even if the sky fell on me! I do not want to
become involved in the political side of things. Such a job
doesn't suit me."

The following is an excerpt of The Jakarta Post's interview
with Nurcholish.

Question: What has the Team Eleven been occupying itself with?

Answer: Our job is to observe and verify that political
parties have fulfilled legal requirements to contest the
election.

We have begun the verification process. Team members will go
to East Java. I will not be going, because I have to attend a
conference in the U.S., but I will be back around March 4.

We are doing the best we can to diminish the workload of the
Election Committee. As per usual, there are people who doubt our
credibility. You can be assured that we do not have any political
interest (in the process).

As we have only a month to screen the political parties, if we
can not beat the deadline, the Election Committee will have to
continue the job. The team will disperse in March.

Q: Are the parties ready to contest the election?

A: Well established parties such as Golkar, the United
Development Party (PPP) and the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) under Megawati Soekarnoputri will have
no problems meeting the requirements.

One has to accept that a great number of political parties are
involved in a learning process about democracy. This is also new
for us. It is a normal consequence that so many parties have been
formed by people who were suppressed during the New Order regime.

It (political euphoria) is a consequence of a rapidly
developing country. In fact, former president Soeharto was a
victim of these consequences. The rapid pace of education,
science and technology boosted people's knowledge.

The demand for democracy is becoming even stronger. When the
push was too forceful, Soeharto had to live with this reality and
he resigned.

The same thing happened to first president Sukarno, who was
ousted by people who helped put him into power. History has
repeated itself.

We should allow the great number of parties to contest the
election, just as long as they abide by the rules, it's fine. At
the moment, we are undergoing a learning process. The U.S. and
Britain needed hundreds of years to become democratic nations.

Q: Where does the support for Team Eleven come from?

A: We have received support from various organizations who wish
Indonesia to conduct a successful general election. I cannot
mention them here. The Team of Eleven was formed out of grave
concern for the health of the nation.

Some donors said that they would have provided support (even)
if we (the team) had not been there.

The funds come from various foreign sources, but they will not
interfere in the process because the funds are pooled by the
United Nations Development Program.

Q: Which parties do you think stand a good chance to win the
election?

A: Parties which have strong grassroots support will most likely
have the best chance, such as the PDI Perjuangan or the National
Awakening Party (PKB).

Q: People usually join campaigns just for fun. They will jump
from one party to another, especially if rewarded. Would you like
to comment on this phenomena?

A: The number of campaign participants could be manipulated as
was evident in the 1955 multiparty elections. At that time,
people moved in trucks from one area to another. I think they
supported more than one party.

We have to guard against money politics, which also happens in
other parts of the world. There is no election which is 100
percent fair. But an election remains the best mechanism for
democracy.

Q: What are the prospects for the Islamic parties?

A: I think that in time, they will unite together. As for Islamic
power, you have to understand the psychological background.
Certain groups, for example Muslims who backed the Masyumi Party,
have been suppressed and betrayed many times by the Sukarno and
Soeharto regimes. They are resentful because they are still
treated with suspicion in the reform era. This is very dangerous.

Soeharto was too late to restore an alliance with this group.
Now we have Habibie, a name that sounds Arabic, unlike Sukarno or
Soeharto.

You may be interested to know that Soeharto did not attend
Friday prayers for dozens of years because he thought that
participating would indicate involvement with Masyumi beliefs.

Habibie combines two qualities: he is a Muslim and a western-
educated scholar. He has one foot in the Muslim camp and the
other with the Soeharto group. This is a good combination.

We are now in the era of non-Javanese domination. We have many
leaders that are not Javanese; this is good for the nation's
democratic process.

Parties like Golkar and PPP will form an association and
nominate Habibie for the presidency. Personally I think he should
not run for the position, so that people will no longer harbor
suspicions about him.

Q: What about the fears of looming chaos and the role of former
president Soeharto in the poll?

A: The possibility of chaos is diminishing because people
increasingly believe that an election is the key to solving the
nation's problem.

As for Soeharto, what do you expect from a man who has ruled
this country for 32 years? I think he's tired. He does not feel
inclined to do anything.

The important thing is to have a leader who is supported by
the majority of the people. However, this is a difficult
realization because the President is elected by the People's
Consultative Assembly (MPR), as is required by the Constitution.