The empty chair<\/p>\n
My first involvement with an empty chair of historical value,
\nif I may say so, was more than forty years ago, when as a
\njournalist working for the national news agency Antara, I was a
\nguest of the British government in London.<\/p>\n
I was assigned to the Indonesian House of Representatives
\nwhen democracy was then called \"guided democracy\" under the late
\npresident Sukarno. Understandably, I wanted to study the British
\nsystem of democratic government and make comparisons. I took part
\nin a guided tour of Parliament or better known as the House of
\nCommons. Like the other visitors I listened to the guide's
\nexplanations on the role of the opposition party which was
\nunknown in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The respectful guide naturally also stressed the important
\nrole played by the Speaker of Parliament. Inside the House of
\nCommons we passed along the various benches on which members used
\nto have their seats \"And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the chair
\nof the Speaker\" the guide disclosed pointing to the empty leather
\nchair and everybody was silent as a sign of respect, either for
\nthe chair or for the Speaker's responsibilities. When I saw the
\nempty chair I could not resist the temptation to try how it felt
\nto sit on the chair of the Speaker of the House of Commons,
\nthough only less than one minute. Luckily there was no protest
\nfrom the crowd, when they saw it was me perching on the
\nrespectable seat. Of course, the guide did not look too pleased
\nwith my demonstration of impulsive democratic sentiment.<\/p>\n
The second such experience that I wanted to have was to sit on
\nthe empty chair reserved for the former strongman of this
\nrepublic, Soeharto, in the court especially outfitted in the
\nauditorium of the Ministry of Agriculture. It was and still is
\nnot clear who owns the (almost) historic chair. But to the
\ndisappointment of many people, and to my own grief, the expected
\nguest of honor has not yet sat on the chair. The defense reported
\nthat Soeharto was too sick to appear before the court and a
\nnumber of reasons were produced and demonstrated by a team of
\ndoctors.<\/p>\n
The strongman has reportedly lost his speech and memory and,
\naccording to the law, he is unfit to be tried by any court. The
\nchair will probably remain empty even as a team of new
\n\"independent\" doctors are preparing to look into the man's health
\nagain. I think, I shall this time decline any offer even from
\nPresident Abdurrahman Wahid to sit in that chair, and for obvious
\nreasons.<\/p>\n
GANDHI SUKARDI<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/the-empty-chair-1447899208", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }