The ICMI phenomenon

The ICMI phenomenon

For a five-year-old organization, the special spotlight focused on the second congress of the Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI), which starts today in Jakarta, is unusual. But, then again, ICMI is no ordinary organization.

Founded in 1990 in Malang, East Java, ICMI has burst onto the Indonesian political scene to overshadow many older organizations. It is a far cry from the original idea of five Brawijaya University students, who wanted Moslem intellectuals to gather to discuss the future of Moslems in Indonesia.

Soon after, their idea captured the imagination of Moslem activists in Jakarta looking for the right vehicle to sail the Moslem revival winds that were starting to blow. They also saw the possibility of using the new Moslem organization to improve relations between Moslems and the government which had been growing sour for years. At the same time, as some experts have observed, the President saw in ICMI an opportunity to reach out to Moslems for support.

ICMI quickly gained the full backing of the President, elevating the relationship between the majority of Moslems and the powers that be to unprecedented heights. In the government bureaucracy, an ICMI membership card became more important than a Golkar membership card. This development upset many people, including some Moslem leaders and government officials, who viewed the establishment of ICMI as a setback and a revival of sectarian politics.

However, without State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie as chairman, ICMI would never have reached its present form. As the closest assistant to President Soeharto, Habibie has succeeded not only in using ICMI as his political base, but also as the main supporter of his high-tech policies.

ICMI's dependence on B.J. Habibie is its strongest card and at the same time its weakest. Too much of ICMI's power and influence hinges on Habibie. Without ICMI, Habibie will remain strong as long as he is close to the President. Losing the chairmanship and his newly-found "grassroots" political support would only hurt him slightly.

Perhaps the fear of losing their only link to power is the reason why most ICMI leaders over the last several weeks, prior to the congress, launched an all-out campaign to retain Habibie as ICMI's chairman for a second term (1995-2000).

The question is, will President Soeharto give his blessing? The President's current relationship with Moslems has been very close even without ICMI. President Soeharto also has been asking his ministers to dedicate themselves more to their ministerial duties, as in the case of Minister for Sport and Youth Affairs Hayono Isman, who was unable to secure the President's support to become chairman of Kosgoro.

If ICMI loses Habibie as chairman, its future performance, and influence, will undoubtedly be affected. Regardless, ICMI has already left its mark on this country's political landscape and some of its programs are worth noting.

For example, its research center, CIDES, has developed itself into one of this country's major research centers, organizing an average 40 research studies and conferences annually. Its affiliated newspaper Republika has emerged as one of the country's major dailies.

But to the dismay of many, ICMI's alleged elitist nature has also triggered the establishment of numerous new organizations, such as the YKLK, PCPP and other intellectual groups affiliated with certain religions.

Whatever decisions come from the congress, they are sure to affect the country's future power balance.