What will Gus Dur do<\/p>\n
By Aboeprijadi Santoso<\/p>\n
Baltimore, USA (JP): Abdurrahman Wahid, alias Gus Dur, may be
\na tragic president, after his rule started with euphoria and
\nended with drama, but given the numerous crises the country faces
\nand his potential to contribute to the wellbeing of the nation,
\nthe deposed president need not end up as a tragic figure. "I
\nshall return," he promised. So what next, Gus?<\/p>\n
"Theoretically, I'm still president, but the reality is more
\nimportant," Abdurrahman said the day after his doctors at Johns
\nHopkins Hospital declared that his health was "good and stable".<\/p>\n
Relaxing in his suite at Harbour Court Hotel in Baltimore, he
\nappeared calm, sometimes obviously suppressing his sadness.<\/p>\n
In an interview with Radio Netherlands in Baltimore last week,
\nhe accused the politicians who ousted him from office of "a
\nconspiracy". "I had under-estimated the less civilized quality of
\nthe politicians who chose to cooperate with the anti-democratic
\nforces. That was my mistake," he said.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman claimed that it was the meeting of party leaders
\nat the house of then vice president Megawati Soekarnoputri that
\nblocked the compromise and led him to issue the decree to freeze
\nthe legislature on the night of July 22 -- a blunder, as it
\nturned out.<\/p>\n
"I had to give a counterattack anyway," said Abdurrahman. So,
\nas coordinating minister Agum Gumelar and military chief Adm.
\nWidodo came to convey their refusal to back him, "Gus Dur stood
\nup and shouted angrily," one witness revealed.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman was convinced his decree was necessary to prevent
\n"a bloodbath", but his justification was not convincing. He
\nclaimed he had made several calls and diffused attempts to
\nproclaim independence by Minahasa and Papua.<\/p>\n
It's clear from his story, however, that the Army played an
\nincreasingly pivotal role, in addition to the threat of the
\ntroops facing the palace. On Aceh, for example, he confirmed that
\nPresidential Order No.4, issued last April and leading to greater
\nconflict and casualties, was issued following pressure from some
\ngenerals. "That (order) was my only meeting point (with them),"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
In reality, Abdurrahman only relied on a few generals and some
\nmid-rank officers from the Army and police force. They had vowed
\nto support him, but in the end they were blocked by their
\nsuperiors or refuted their support.<\/p>\n
His story suggests that the generals had left him in the cold.
\n"They did not come when I called them," he said dryly.<\/p>\n
While Abdurrahman refrained from naming names, some of his
\nclose aides were more open about the key moments during his
\neight-month fight with the legislative bodies. As time run out,
\nhis hopes of staying in power increasingly depended on the two
\nkey ministers he successively placed as powerbrokers, Susilo
\nBambang Yudhoyono and Agum Gumelar.<\/p>\n
"These generals were acting like Sangkuni," Abdurrahman's
\naides said. Sangkuni is a notorious prime minister in wayang
\nshadow puppet stories who selfishly maintains the status quo by
\nbeing double-faced in his relationship with the king.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman refused to comment, saying only the essence of the
\nprocess is that "the politicians chose to be untrustworthy by
\ncooperating with the anti-democratic forces".<\/p>\n
But, on July 22-23, shortly after the decree, Abdurrahman told
\nsome activists in the palace a different story. "Look, I have to
\ndeal with you, with the generals and with the kyai (Muslim
\nclerics); I agree with many of you and some of the generals, but
\nI came from the milieu of Muslim clerics, so I choose the latter.
\nAnother source significantly added that it was the latter, the
\nLangitan Forum of Batuceper, who advised Abdurrahman to issue the
\ndecree.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's experience with her leaders has shown that
\ndifferent social origins have shaped different dynamics. Like
\nSukarno, Abdurrahman could easily move in elite, political
\ncircles, while remaining deeply rooted in his society.<\/p>\n
Sukarno was a product of the colonial era, molded by the
\ndynamic that moved him and the masses toward independence and
\nnation building. Once the new state was institutionalized, he was
\npolitically too romantic for a social revolution, thus failed to
\n"revolutionize" the state and society. As the Army seized greater
\nprivileges, its vested interests disrupted Sukarno's mission.<\/p>\n
Soeharto was precisely part and parcel of that disruptive
\nstate apparatus. The soldier of a colonial army by choice, he
\nmoved to join an occupation force as the Japanese army defeated
\nthe Dutch. Then he merged it into a peoples army and made it a
\npowerful machine of the New Order. So he felt at home in
\nauthoritarian structures, finding his niche in state power.<\/p>\n
To borrow the metaphor, Soeharto thus became a Great Sangkuni,
\nruling the archipelago longer than any Dutch Governor General and
\nsuccessfully building a stable empire by suppressing Indonesia's
\npotential for democracy.<\/p>\n
Hence, Abdurrahman was correct when he stated that Indonesia
\n"achieves independence for the second time", after he assumed the
\npresidency in Oct. 1999.<\/p>\n
But Abdurrahman was not exactly the type of leader comfortable
\nto the psyche of the elite. "How can Indonesia, our great
\ncountry, be ruled by wong picek (a blind man)?" one of Habibie's
\nministers asked this writer, referring to Abdurrahman's
\npresidential candidacy back in Sept. 1999.<\/p>\n
Likewise, with such a frail man as its Supreme Commander, the
\ncountry's proud armed forces, its top brass and many of its
\nofficers, would most likely feel humiliated when challenged.<\/p>\n
Like Sukarno, Abdurrahman is also the product of an oppressed
\nsociety, the New Order, but he linked the traditional religious
\nsector and movements outside state politics. As president, he was
\nthe first to sack a four-star general and started to reform the
\nmilitary, albeit with great difficulty. But he led the nation in
\na globalized world demanding more managerial efficacy and
\nefficiency than might be expected from an erratic leader like
\nhim.<\/p>\n
A recalcitrant intellectual, he was, therefore, not well
\nequipped to build a stable relationship with a strong, ambitious,
\nbut mostly unproductive legislature.<\/p>\n
As a result, he had confronted too many "Sangkuni's", who were
\nfinally united in a legislative coup to defend some interests in
\nthe name of reform. But, once ousted and humiliated, Abdurrahman
\ncould easily return to his niche.<\/p>\n
One surely does not need another "Great Sangkuni" to build a
\nstable state, even when the reform was heavily burdened with the
\nNew Order's legacy. The tragedy of Abdurrahman is that he came as
\nthe right man at the right moment, but probably not in the right
\nplace.<\/p>\n
Yet there is nothing tragic about a man of his reputation, a
\nliberal humanist and leader of the masses, returning to civil
\nsociety and fighting for democracy. With ethnic-nationalism,
\nreligious sectarianism and militarism still looming, Abdurrahman
\nremains a national asset.<\/p>\n
On his last evening in Baltimore, Abdurrahman invited his
\nAmerican doctors, Indonesian diplomats and friends for a dinner
\non a boat cruising the beautiful harbor city. As if to
\ndemonstrate his health and resolve, returning to the hotel, the
\nhalf-blind ex-president walked 400 meters at night, crossing one
\nof the busiest avenues of Baltimore.<\/p>\n
That's the sign of a strong fighting will.<\/p>\n
"Capitalism and communism are materialistic by nature. So it's
\ntime to go beyond by (broadening) our moral horizon and
\ndiscourse," Abdurrahman said, revealing the essence of his next
\nproject.<\/p>\n
From Ciganjur, his residence in South Jakarta that he calls
\n"the capital of democracy", he plans to embark on a moral
\nmovement through Yayasan Manusia Merdeka (Foundation of Free
\nHuman Beings), to challenge human rights violations.<\/p>\n
That's the route he chooses to take to be the nation's guru.<\/p>\n
The writer is a journalist with Radio Netherlands.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/what-will-gus-dur-do-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }