Indonesia has many potential leaders: Roeslan<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia, with a population of over 195
\nmillion, has a large base of potential leaders, and thus should
\nnot be dependent on one figurehead alone.<\/p>\n
Roeslan Abdulgani said here on Saturday that the country
\nshould not fear the future, because its large population and
\nrevolutionary history provides fertile ground for the birth of
\nleaders.<\/p>\n
Responding to questions from the press after speaking at a
\nseminar, Roeslan dispelled fears that the eventual succession of
\nthe national leadership would not go smoothly.<\/p>\n
The 81-year-old former minister of foreign affairs also
\nmaintained that people should not focus on a person so much that
\nit leads to obsession and a cult of personality.<\/p>\n
"Don't attribute the nation's leadership to just one person,"
\nremarked Roeslan, who in the 1950s and 1960s held various
\ngovernmental posts including vice-chairman of the Supreme
\nAdvisory Council and deputy prime minister.<\/p>\n
The issue of a successor to President Soeharto has been a
\nrecurring topic with the approach of next year's election.<\/p>\n
Soeharto, who has held six consecutive presidential terms,
\nlast week said that he has never personally sought reelection and
\nthat it has always been the prerogative of the People's
\nConsultative Assembly (MPR) to select a president.<\/p>\n
When asked by journalists, Roeslan declined to directly
\ncomment on Soeharto's statement, but underlined the fact that
\nSoeharto said the selection was up to MPR.<\/p>\n
"I really don't want to comment about it...But what's clear is
\nthat the nation's leadership is not limited to just one person.
\nIndonesia has many capable potential leaders," he said.<\/p>\n
Roeslan was among the two main speakers at a seminar organized
\nby the Indonesian Democratic Party to commemorate its
\nanniversary, celebrated yesterday.<\/p>\n
The seminar was organized under the theme "Pancasila,
\nIndividualism and Globalization." The other speaker was economic
\nanalyst Christianto Wibisono.<\/p>\n
Without elaborating, Roeslan remarked that there were groups
\nin society with an interest in maintaining the status quo who
\nwere directly opposed to those demanding changes as the country
\nheads into the 1997 elections.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Christianto, while speaking on the socioeconomic
\naspects of the seminar's theme, also noted the need for
\nIndonesian society to move away from paternalistic tendencies in
\nmany facets of life.<\/p>\n
"Indonesia must undergo a cultural transformation, changing
\nits irrational, feudalistic and primitive way of thought, which
\nlauds paternalism and premodern etatism," he said<\/p>\n
He remarked that Indonesia must free its political system from
\nbeing held "hostage" by certain individualists who abuse their
\nauthority for personal, family or group interests. (mds)<\/p>",
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