Asking Gus Dur to step down<\/p>\n
From Warta Kota<\/p>\n
We have repeatedly heard of the existence of several parties
\nasking for President Abdurrahman \"Gus Dur\" Wahid's resignation.
\nThe reasons are among others: Gus Dur has traveled abroad many
\ntimes during his less than one-year presidency with insubstantial
\nresults.<\/p>\n
Another reason is: amid the serious crisis there is neither
\nany consolidation nor concrete programs. In addition, Gus Dur is
\nsaid to have demanded the revocation of the Decree No.
\nXXV\/MPRS\/1966 of the Provisional People's Consultative Assembly
\n(MPRS) effectively lifting the ban on the propagation of
\nCommunism and the Communist Party. He raised the salaries of
\nhigher government officials by up to one thousand percent,
\nwhereas salaries of lower employees only by 10 percent to 20
\npercent. He also changed the name of Irian Jaya to Papua and has
\nallowed its people to hoist the Morning Star flag.<\/p>\n
In my opinion, this violates articles 5 and 35 of the 1945
\nConstitution. If this was revealed prior to his election as
\npresident, the entire nation would have definitely opposed it.<\/p>\n
In view of these facts, MPR speaker Amien Rais, who together
\nwith his central axis group was responsible for making Gus Dur
\npresident, appears disappointed. So are the members of the House
\nof Representatives.<\/p>\n
This mess will probably not happen again in future. But it is
\nworth noting that the election which resulted in Gus Dur's
\npresidency was quite contextual. The circumstances revolving
\naround Gus Dur's position then were unique. It was evident that
\nthe presidential and vice presidential elections in the 1999 MPR
\ngeneral session ran smoothly and were an extraordinary
\ncontribution to the state which was then threatened by national
\ndissension.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, all parties understood what had happened and were
\nalso aware of Gus Dur's physical condition. Therefore asking him
\nto step down through an extraordinary MPR session is in my
\nopinion useless, because no party in the MPR can give a guarantee
\nthat things will improve. On the other hand, certain parties may
\ntake advantage of it, and this nation will again be threatened by
\ndissension.<\/p>\n
That is why Gus Dur had better act prudently, for example by
\nseparating the position of head of state from that of head of the
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
A consensus between Gus Dur, Megawati, MPR speaker, House
\nspeaker and Chairman of the Supreme Advisory Council needs to be
\nsought for a general election to be held in 2002 or at the latest
\nin 2003. All parties should understand that during a transitional
\nperiod it is difficult to hold office until the end of the term.
\nSo, it's not necessary to blame each other.<\/p>\n
MM HARSO<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/asking-gus-dur-to-step-down-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }