Joe Leahy, Jakarta – One of the country's top Muslim leaders has been ejected from the influential Suharto-backed Association of Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals because of his outspokenness, analysts said.
Amien Rais has denied that his "resignation" from the association, known as ICMI, was connected with his recent attacks on the Government over the level of foreign investment in two mining projects.
Instead, he blamed his heavy workload as leader of the Muhammadiyah, a Muslim organisation claiming 25 million members.
But most analysts believe Mr Rais was forced out by the association's chairman, Research and Technology Minister Yusuf Habibie.
Mr Habibie, a protege of President Suharto, was appointed chairman of ICMI by Mr Suharto after it was formed in 1990.
ICMI is widely seen as an attempt by Mr Suharto to enlist the support of the vast Muslim majority.
"He has resigned from ICMI not by his own free will but because of his views," said Syamsuddin Haris, a political analyst.
"He was forced out by the Habibie group who want to bring ICMI closer to the Government."
Mr Rais, a staunch nationalist, has been a fierce critic of the level of foreign ownership in a giant copper and gold mine in Irian Jaya operated by United States-based Freeport Indonesia.
He has also been outspoken on the high levels of foreign involvement in the proposed Busang II gold mine in West Kalimantan.
Mr Suharto has emerged as one of the main players in the race to develop the mine, possibly the largest gold deposit in the world to be discovered this century.
Mr Syamsuddin said Mr Rais had also been outspoken on the alleged "Christianisation" of Indonesia - the growing economic strength of the Chinese minority.
[Rais is also one of several of Islamic leaders who has made a number of very critical statements on the recent spate of riots in Indonesia. Rais was quoted in the Jakarta daily Kompas on January 6 as saying: "the source of danger, however, is not SARA (Suku, agama, ras dan antar golongan - Tribe, religion, race and inter-group) itself, but economic injustice which has been going on for a long time, making it no longer bearable for the people. This injustice is due to three ever-worsening chronic ills, namely corruption, a widening social gap, and opportunism among state officials. I think we should not take the incidents lightly because they have become really serious". In an interview with Tempo interactive on January 7, he referred to Indonesian society as being "like dry grass ready to ignite". Habibie, who is clearly at odds with such a view, has refuted that such issues have anything to do with the "unrest". On February 7, he was reported as saying: "Indonesia must be vigilant of maneuvers by the international communist network which want's to play one side off against the other with issues of SARA along with human rights to split the nation." - JB]