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Muslim group needs more leaders, chairman says

Muhammadiyah, the nation’s second largest Muslim social and educational organization, should add six more members to its leadership forum to better meet the challenges of the 21st century, says its chief

Sri Wahyuni and Slamet Susanto (The Jakarta Post)
Yogyakarta
Mon, July 5, 2010

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Muslim group needs more leaders, chairman says

M

uhammadiyah, the nation’s second largest Muslim social and educational organization, should add six more members to its leadership forum to better meet the challenges of the 21st century, says its chief.

Muhammadiyah’s rules permit its 13-member central board of executives (PP) to add up to six new members, chairman Din Syamsuddin said.

“The additional people need not necessarily be taken from the 39 candidates but could be anyone whom the body considers appropriate,” said Din on the sidelines of Muhammdaiyah’s congress in Yogyakarta on Sunday.

Din referred to 39 PP candidates who were selected by the organization’s tanwir, which is Muhammadiyah’s second-highest decision making body.

The expansion is needed urgently to compensate for a potential lack of expertise that the next group
of PP leaders may show in the future — something he encountered when he led the board from 2005-2010, Din said.

Lack of internal expertise led the PP to appoint an a education professor as its treasurer and a pharmacy professor as its deputy treasurer, he added.

Previously, the PP membership was expanded only once, by chairman Ahmad Syafii Maarif, in 2000-2005.

“I suggest that a similar expansion be made by the 13 PP members elected by this congress, whoever they are,” Din said.

The agenda for the second day of Muhammadiyah’s centennial congress was dominated by the presentation of the organization’s 2005-2010 leadership accountability report, which was read aloud by PP secretary Rosyad Sholeh.

The congress also heard accountability reports from all 33 provincial branches and listened to local comments on the PP’s accountability report.

The 46th congress of Muhammadiyah’s women’s group, Aisyiyah, was held simultaneously with the main Muhammdaiyah congress.

Aisyiyah representatives pledged to focus on women’s reproduction and child health and agreed the issues were vital for national development.

“Even when we talk about poverty, we talk about Indonesian women, thanks to the absence of gender-based policies,” Aisyiyah’s research and development head Tri Hastuti, said Sunday.

A lack of serious attention has led to a high maternal mortality rate in Indaonesia — almost 0.22 percent — in 2009, she added.

Aisyiyah secretary Trias Setiawati said that the organization decided to focus on the issue because of government apathy.

As an initial step, Aisyiyah established a pilot project, desa siaga, or “villages on alert”, in five provinces: Banten, Bengkulu, South Sumatra, South Sulawesi and East Java.

She said that the project would be expanded to 10 additional provinces in 2011. Provinces will continue to be added until the entire country is covered in 2015, she added.

Other focuses for the women’s congress include reforestation and the developing of productive economic activities through cooperatives.

This is needed because women so far have limited access to finance, education and information, she said.

 

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