Gus Dur should step down<\/p>\n
I have read Prof. Daniel S. Lev's article, Abdurrahman Wahid,
\ndon't step down, published in Kompas on Feb. 3, 2001 but cannot
\nagree with his argument. In my opinion President Abdurrahman \"Gus
\nDur\" Wahid must immediately step down to avoid the present
\ncircumstances from worsening because he has failed to lead this
\ncountry and has, consequently, lost most of his legitimacy as
\nPresident.<\/p>\n
The special committee of the House of Representatives set up
\nto conduct inquiries about Buloggate and Bruneigate has come up
\nwith the finding that Gus Dur is strongly suspected of being
\ninvolved in the financial scandal and that he has lied to the
\npublic in the case of Bruneigate. The result of this special
\ncommittee has been accepted by the House by the majority of its
\nmembers in a voting and the House will shortly send a memorandum
\nto the President.<\/p>\n
Lev wrote that if the President steps down and is replaced by
\nVice President Megawati, her administration will be undermined by
\nthe National Awakening Party (PKB), which will seek revenge. Lev
\nadded, \"If Gus Dur steps down, it means that he loses in the
\nstruggle to marginalize (the political role of the military)\". In
\nhis opinion, if Megawati becomes Indonesia's president, the
\nmilitary will again play an important role because Megawati likes
\nthe military. Lev then asked, \"If the military plays an important
\nrole again, who will be disadvantaged?\"<\/p>\n
Considering the result of the voting on the outcome of the
\nspecial committee's work, I don't think the PKB will successfully
\nundermine Megawati (if Lev's assumption is correct). Moreover I
\nbelieve the PKB will still hold on to its idealism and will never
\nresort to destructive acts. It surprises me that Lev thinks so
\nlittle of the military. His generalization is biased. In my
\nopinion, not everybody in the military is contemptible in terms
\nof their political attitude, behavior and character. General
\nWiranto, for example, voluntarily withdrew from the presidential
\nrace after the last general election to give way to Gus Dur. Many
\nother military figures are like general Wiranto and it is
\nirrelevant to mention their names here. I don't think Lev is
\nentirely right in his statement that Gus Dur is meritorious in
\nmarginalizing the Military in the political arena. Gus Dur came
\nforward at the right time when the Military, seriously criticized
\nby the community, began to reduce their political role. The House
\nhas reduced the number of seats allotted to the Military and the
\nPolice and in future there will not be a special faction in the
\nHouse. It is now time, I believe, for us all, laymen and experts
\nalike, to stop denouncing the Military. We must view a problem in
\na balanced way.<\/p>\n
About Lev's comment that the finding of the House's special
\ncommittee and the memorandum will be no problem to Gus Dur; in my
\nopinion Lev has belittled the work of the House. Obviously, Lev
\nis very inaccurate in this evaluation. The House has decided that
\nthe President should be suspected of involvement in Buloggate, a
\ncriminal case punishable with imprisonment. This is not simply a
\npolitical matter as Daniel thinks. When the House, which
\nrepresents the entire people, suspects that the President is
\ninvolved in Buloggate, it will be very difficult for the
\nPresident to carry out his job as a president because his
\nlegitimacy has dwindled.<\/p>\n
Lastly, Indonesia's economic crisis is the concern of the
\nentire Indonesian people. It is also the concern of domestic and
\nforeign investors, not only of American investors.<\/p>\n
MUHD. RAMZY HASIBUAN<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/gus-dur-should-step-down-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }