A clean bill of health
A clean bill of health
The return of a beaming President Soeharto from a checkup in
Germany last Saturday is not only good news for the country and
the nation, but most importantly it has ended the rampant
speculations on the President's physical condition. Now it is
clear that President Soeharto is in excellent health for a man of
his age.
Although President Soeharto's heart is somewhat enlarged, it
is heartening to hear there are no blocked arteries. Although he
has a stone in his left kidney, as doctor Ari Haryanto last
weekend said, the President's kidneys are still very healthy for
someone his age. Now, President Soeharto has only to reduce his
cholesterol level and slim down.
All in all, it is good to hear that President Soeharto will be
able to resume active work soon. Because, for weeks before his
surprise trip to Germany, rumors about Soeharto's health flew far
and wide, causing concern and anxiety among the public.
Some people went even as far as to liken the situation with
1965, when rumors about president Sukarno's ailing health rocked
the country to the extent that it prompted the now banned
Indonesian Communist Party to take the preemptive measure of
launching a coup to take power. The coup attempt failed and
eventually president Sukarno's rule collapsed, but it opened up a
new chapter in Indonesian history with the emergence of a New
Order administration under President Soeharto.
The clean bill of health given by a very competent medical
team to President Soeharto has not only stopped all these rumors
but has also normalized the rupiah and Jakarta Stock Exchange.
Yet, the brief case of jitters among the business community
caused by the news about Soeharto's health has reminded us that
nowadays our economy is so closely linked to the global economic
system that any occurrence which may affect the country's future
could have a dire impact on the domestic and international
market.
Last week's short-lived tension also exposed a very important
issue which in the past tended to be deliberately ignored due to
its sensitivity: the problem of succession. Of course,
constitutionally we do have some sort of succession mechanism in
case the President is incapacitated. But real politics have shown
us that the problem is not that simple, and in fact is much more
complicated.
As he has repeatedly said, out of respect for the
Constitution, President Soeharto has made no practical provision
for his succession except by reiterating that it is up to the
People's Consultative Assembly in its session in 1998 to elect a
new president. Given Soeharto's age and unclear health condition,
heightened by Mrs. Tien's demise last April, many people in the
past months expressed doubt over his capability to serve another
term.
The doctor's statement last week that President Soeharto is in
excellent health, however, has removed those doubts. Some have
even started to believe that one of the motives behind the
President's trip to Germany was to declare that he is still in
shape to lead the country for another five years.
The real motive of the trip aside, one has to admit that
succession should indeed be more openly discussed in the future.
Although we are much in doubt that President Soeharto, after his
trip to Germany, will be more open on this issue, we suggest that
the country's elite should give more serious thought to this
matter. After all, since we are already an inseparable part of
the global system, if it can in any way be prevented, we should
make sure that no more jitters hit our economy and disrupt
development in the future.