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.