The five elected members of the presidium are Ilham Habibie (410 votes), Nanat Fatah Natsir (308 votes), Marwah Daud Ibrahim (276 votes), Priyo Budi Santoso (271 votes) and Sugiharto (231 votes).

Ilham Habibie, as coordinating presidium, is regarded as being capable of revitalizing the role of the ICMI in the times to come. Revitalizing the role of the ICMI today should be done immediately to save this organization from extinction. It is necessary since the ICMI no longer relies on strong individuals for its survival.

In the past, the ICMI was strong because it had great leaders. Most of them were pioneers of the reform movement in this country. Famous political figures such as Amien Rais and Nurcholish Madjid have played instrumental roles in encouraging the reform movement. Unfortunately, the ICMI’s role diminished after those figures left.

The ICMI is really at a crossroads. Therefore, revitalizing is a must not only to restore public confidence but also to make it a respected thinktank for Indonesia. For that purpose, the ICMI should at least highlight the agenda of intellectual leadership and the country’s economic independence.

During the opening ceremony, the chief patron of the ICMI, B.J. Habibie, said there had been a tendency for our leaders to turn into feudal leaders. Society members unconsciously boost this feudalism as they are not accustomed to treating people of power as equals. Alas, our leaders enjoy excessive public respect.

Intellectual leadership requires adaptive features, independence and regeneration. In terms of adaptive features, ICMI leaders and members need to have the capacity to understand the altered context, alternative options and separate solutions to a particular problem that was not thought possible in yesterday’s context.

ICMI leaders and members who refuse to be adaptive, stick to their perceptions and cannot fill the gap between the people’s aspirations and the needed reform in the system are bound to fail.

The attitude needs serious attention owing to the fact that, like it or not, the ICMI membership also comprises politicians. It is no secret that most of the politicians have not been showing such adaptability.

The ICMI must maintain its political independence. It should remain independent, reinforce good governance policies while at the same time expressing a critical voice on state administrations that fail to respond to public issues.

Proximity to the government is actually positive with a view to influencing public policy. The ICMI is not a longtime leading opponent of government. However, the ICMI should not be an instrument of the government’s interest in power. It should be an instrument of the common people.

As far as regeneration is concerned, it is high time that young figures took the lead. Adi Sasono, Ginandjar Kartasasmita, or Jimly Asshiddiqie made the right decisions to leave the ICMI and prepare for the transfer of leadership to young intellectuals and entrepreneurs in the organization.

The ICMI might learn from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS). The PKS has the right credentials to be a cadre party. Its integrity and performance never heavily relies on strong individuals, noting that popular figures or selling leaders-based are not its major distinctive features.

In this sense, it is not necessary for the ICMI to rely on celebrity intellectuals to move forward.

Charismatic leadership not only creates pseudo-stability in the organization, but also risks misjudging creative dynamics voiced and carried out by opposing elements in the organization.

No less important is boosting the country’s economic independence. One of the economic issues at present is an increasing dependence on foreign parties, which in turn reduces independent and strong economic sovereignty.

In doing so, the ICMI needs to go the extra mile to build public capacity at the micro level through education and training. It aims to encourage small and middle-sized entrepreneurs to be able to produce goods and services competing with those from outside.

The effort must involve the younger generation, encouraging youths to become more independent. Hence, a proposed program to muddle through the problem is to promote entrepreneurship as a catalyst for self-reliant youths. Becoming a young entrepreneur means daring to accept the challenge of being independent.

The ICMI is required to stay in-line with the government’s efforts toward raising awareness as well as encourage the need to diversify the economy through the development of entrepreneurial activities for the public, especially among the youths.

For a developing nation such as Indonesia, businesses play a major role in a country’s economic growth as their contributions ultimately lead to the opening of job opportunities, eradication of poverty and the generation of new industries.

During the congress, Habibie asserted that the ICMI had been on a long march for the past 20 years.

Yet a longer road lies ahead. The ICMI will remain relevant if it manages to get through this transitional period and adapt its behavior, perceptions and working style to fill the gaps in yesterday’s and today’s reality.

The writer is a lecturer at Andalas University, Padang, and a graduate of the University of Canberra, Australia.

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