End of an era?<\/p>\n
The removal of President Abdurrahman Wahid by Indonesia's
\nhighest policy-making body, the People's Consultative Assembly
\n(MPR), in a Special Session on Monday has brought to a close one
\nof the most extraordinary episodes in contemporary Indonesian
\nhistory.<\/p>\n
A highly respected moderate Muslim scholar known for his
\ninclusive and democratic ideas, Abdurrahman \"Gus Dur\" Wahid rose
\nto become Indonesia's fourth president in more than half a
\ncentury on Oct. 20, 1999.<\/p>\n
While it may be true that Gus Dur won the position through
\nskillful maneuvering helped by -- or, as some analysts prefer to
\nsee it, by taking advantage of the sentiments of -- a coalition
\nof Muslim legislators and a faction within the erstwhile ruling
\nGolkar Party, it is equally true that Gus Dur seemed at that time
\nthe only presidential candidate acceptable to all.<\/p>\n
His track record as a modern intellectual and a fighter for
\ndemocracy was long and impressive. He rode the wave of popular
\ndemand for clean governance and democratic reform that swept the
\ncountry at the end of the more than three decades of
\nauthoritarian rule under two of his predecessors, Indonesia's
\nfounding president Sukarno and Soeharto.<\/p>\n
And although the democratic reform that he brought with him
\ninto his administration had already been introduced by his
\nimmediate predecessor, BJ Habibie, it was to Gus Dur whom the
\npublic looked for laying a firm groundwork on which a truly
\nmodern democratic society could be built.<\/p>\n
Early in his administration it looked as if indeed the Gus Dur
\nadministration would mark the beginning of an era of democracy,
\nand with it clean government, in Indonesia. To mention just a few
\nexamples, it was under Gus Dur's administration that the military
\nfirst openly accepted civilian control and transformed itself
\nfrom a tool of those in power to that of the nation and the
\nstate.<\/p>\n
It was Gus Dur who, immediately after he settled into the
\npresidential palace, began to purge it and the presidential
\noffices of the air of regal grandeur under which they had existed
\nfor so many decades.<\/p>\n
On a less serious note, the jesting, witty remarks that often
\ninterspersed his speeches dealing with even such serious subjects
\nas Cabinet changes and matters of government policy brought a
\nrefreshing air of informality into the institutions of state.<\/p>\n
He refused to be addressed as \"Mr. President\", choosing
\ninstead to be known simply as Gus Dur. And -- aside from whether
\nor not such views could even be mentioned in the current
\npolitical context -- who but Gus Dur would have the courage to
\npropose the opening of relations with Israel and recognizing the
\nbasic right of communists in Indonesia to reorganize.<\/p>\n
In a way, therefore, Gus Dur's departure from the Indonesian
\npolitical stage is a regrettable reality that has been forced on
\nthe nation by subsequent developments. More and more in the later
\nstages of his administration, Gus Dur displayed an alarming
\ntendency to make erratic and arbitrary policy decisions and make
\nstatements that invited controversy.<\/p>\n
All there is left to say at this point is that had Gus Dur
\nlistened to good advice and stepped down voluntarily as the
\nsituation demanded, the Indonesian nation would still have
\nrecognized in him the highly respected moral leader it so much
\nneeds at this crucial stage of its history.<\/p>\n
We are sorry he didn't. Even so, the nation continues to owe
\nit to itself to pay Abdurrahman Wahid the respect he deserves.
\nPerhaps, if a lesson is to be drawn from Gus Dur's most current
\nexperience, it is to reflect on how power can alter even the most
\nprincipled of individuals and that therefore, in any democratic
\nsociety, constitutional controls are absolutely necessary.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/end-of-an-era-1447899208",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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