Rais, Mohammad Amien

(b. 1944), Indonesian political figure. Mohammad Amien Rais was a prominent politician and one of the leading figures in the 1998 movement that toppled Indonesian President Suharto on 21 May 1998. He was born in Solo, Central Java, on 26 April 1944. He came from a modernist Muslim (Muhammadiyah) background and was educated in Islamic schools before attending Indonesian and overseas universities. After finishing his master's degree at Notre Dame University, Indiana, and his Ph.D. in political science at the University of Chicago, Rais established a reputation as a dedicated lecturer and a preacher in Friday prayer services while present at the Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta. He became politically active after joining the Indonesian Muslim Intellectual Organization (Ikatan Cendikiawan Muslim Indonesia or ICMI) and soon became a vocal critic of Suharto. Rais was elected as the chairman of the social-religious organization Muhammadiyah from 1994 to 1998. Muhammadiyah is the second largest Muslim organization in Indonesia after the traditional Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU).

As an academic turned politician, Rais was notable for his tough critiques against his political opponents. He espoused eradicating corruption, collusion, and nepotism, rampant during the Suharto government. These open criticisms gained significant support from young and urban Indonesians, and became the rallying point in undermining Suharto's government. After the fall of Suharto, Rais left Muhammadiyah to lead his newly formed party, the National Mandate Party (Partai Amanah Nasional or PAN) in 1988. His party contested the June 1999 general election and he also was nominated as a presidential candidate. He was disappointed, however, when his party gained only 7 percent of the national vote. He nevertheless was chosen as the speaker of MPR (Upper House) in October 1999 and through political maneuvering forged a "middle axis" of Muslim parties into a coalition to choose Abdurrahman Wahid as the fourth Indonesian president on 21 October 1999. Rais grew disappointed with Wahid's performance as president and was a leading figure in Wahid's impeachment during the MPR special session on 21–23 July 2001.

Najib, Muhammad, and Kuat Sukardiyono. (1998) Amien Rais, Sang Demokrat (Amien Rais, A Democrat). Jakarta, Indonesia: Gema Insani Press.