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Amien Rais, the chairman of the advisory board of the National Mandate Party (PAN), said on Friday that he is ready to run as a candidate to take back the chairmanship of Muhammadiyah, the country’s second largest Islamic movement, which he headed from 1995 to 1998.

The current Muhammadiyah chairman is Dien Syamsuddin, whose term ends in May.

Speaking at a press conference, Amien said that at the opportune time he will resign from PAN, the party he helped found in July 1998. PAN is now chaired by Hatta Rajasa, the current chief economics minister.

“I will move to another association, that’s right, but I will first consolidate my [support],” Amien said, adding that he would likely announce his resignation from PAN next month.

He said that he felt he had to remain with PAN following the rising political tension in the aftermath of the conclusion of an inquiry by the House of Representatives on the government’s bailout of ailing lender Bank Century in 2008.

However, Bachtiar Effendy, a senior official in the organization, criticized Amien’s plan as smacking of political interest.

It would be very difficult for Muhammadiyah members to ignore the fact that Amien is the founder of PAN, which suffered from a decrease of voters in the 2009 election, Bachtiar said.

Although most PAN members are from Muhammadiyah, the organization itself is not political, he said. “So the question now becomes, is Amien’s motive to increase PAN’s number of voters?

“Moreover, PAN is in the coalition within the government. If Amien entered Muhammadiyah, would he keep it independent from politics?”

Bachtiar said that Amien’s desire to run for the Muhammadiyah chairmanship would also close the door to a regeneration from within the body.

“I think there are many younger leaders of Muhammadiyah who also have the capability to chair this organization,” he said.

However, Bachtiar admitted that several Muhammadiyah provincial chapters have already aired their early support for Amien’s candidacy, whose political fortunes have long been identified with the group.

Amien, who rose to prominence in the last years of the rule of the late President Suharto, became one of the key figures in the early post-Suharto reform era. Amien sought the presidency in 1999 and in 2004 under the PAN banner.

Dien, who has yet to say whether he intends to seek a second term, is known to have often criticized Yudhoyono. In private, Dien supported the Jusuf Kalla-Wiranto ticket in the 2009 presidential election.