President and provocateurs<\/p>\n
Not many people, perhaps, have as many labels as President
\nAbdurrahman Wahid, or Gus Dur. Long before he was appointed
\npresident, he had earned a host of epithets and nicknames: a
\nkiai(a respected teacher of Islam), a man of culture, a
\ncolumnist, a social observer, a political observer and even a
\nsoccer observer. As a kiai he was the leader of Ciganjur Islamic
\nboarding school and also general chairman of the central board of
\nthe Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU). As a man of
\nculture, he was one of the chairmen of the Jakarta Arts Council.<\/p>\n
As a columnist, his articles were published in the national
\nmass media. According to a former member of the editorial board
\nof a Jakarta-based weekly, Gus Dur was even provided with his own
\nroom and typewriter. It was not clear whether there is any
\nrelationship between this special treatment and his success as
\nthe general chairman of the central board of NU. What is obvious
\nis that Gus Dur has become popular because Jakarta-based print
\nmedia have frequently quoted his opinions and comments.<\/p>\n
One of the grandsons of Hadratus Syaikh K.H. Hasyim Asy'ari,
\nGus Dur has even appeared on TV commenting on a soccer match.
\nBesides, Gus Dur is also known to be very skilled at cracking
\njokes. As a humorist, he translated To die laughing Russian
\nstyle. One can see how he joked with the Emir of the United Arab
\nEmirates when he visited him. In short, Gus Dur may be the
\nworld's funniest and most care-free president.<\/p>\n
However, there is his trait of character which has escaped
\nattention. Despite all the labels referred to earlier, Gus Dur is
\na quick-tempered person. Just see how he behaved when he received
\na delegation of employees from the former information ministry
\nled by former information minister Yunus Yosfiah. A peaceful
\nsituation suddenly became tense when the president, all of a
\nsudden, spoke emotionally in a high pitch. The same situation was
\nrepeated when the President talked about Aceh at the House of
\nPeople's Representatives. All of a sudden, speaking in a strong
\ntone, he said that the House was just like a kindergarten. And
\nrecently on one national private TV station, Gus Dur announced
\nhimself as the replacement head for the information center of the
\nIndonesian Military's (TNI) information center, Maj. Gen.
\nSudrajat. As a commoner, what struck me was whether or not it was
\nappropriate if the replacement of a board member of an
\norganization was announced by the chairman of the organization
\nitself. In other words, isn't it more appropriate for the TNI
\ncommander in chief to announce this replacement?<\/p>\n
And lastly, when the president responded at the rally of \"one
\nmillion Muslims\" at Monas' central park in connection with the
\nmassacre of Muslims in Tobelo, Galela, Tual, Masohi, Ambon and
\nother places in Maluku. Only God knows what spirit had whispered
\nin his ears when he became furious and charged that the rally was
\nan effort to depose him, saying that the rally was attended by
\nsome 20,000 people (in fact, anybody at the rally could see that
\nhundreds of thousands of people were present), Gus Dur threatened
\nto take strong action if the outspokenness emerging during the
\nrally was turned into action.<\/p>\n
We only wish to remind Gus Dur that being emotional and quick-
\ntempered, when combined with care-freeness and power, can turn
\ninto tyranny. We would also like to remind him not to allow any
\nprovocateurs to whisper him anything or steer him when making a
\ndecision. We do not want anybody to say that our President, who
\nis a kiai, an intellectual and a man of culture, is controlled by
\na provocateur.<\/p>\n
ELA HENDRIK AN<\/p>\n
Banyumas, Central Java<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/president-and-provocateurs-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }