A slip of the political tongue

The daily Suara Pembaruan of May 9, 1999, reported a request from the Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI) for President Habibie to study more about history, especially Indonesian national history.

This request is in connection to the lecture given by the President some days ago. He had asked Indonesians to be more vigilant about the lurking dangers of the concerted efforts of Communism, Marhaenism and Socialism (KOMAS).

Perhaps President Habibie is following the way of thinking of the first Indonesian president Sukarno, with his concepts of Nationalism, Religion and Communism (NASAKOM). But back then NASAKOM was considered by Sukarno to be the best way to unite Indonesians, while Habibie considers KOMAS as a danger to the nation.

The warning about the danger from KOMAS expressed by the President of the Republic of Indonesia has put Indonesians in a very embarrassing position and besides that, endangers national unity, especially at this time.

Habibie should place the interest of the people above everything else and when he does not do it as soon as possible, he should then resign.

This strong worded statement which came from the chairman of the research division of the PNI Mr. Simon Tiranda, was distributed to the press as witnessed by members of his staff, like Jim Wirawan, Hendrik Nangoi and others.

Since this is not the first time that President Habibie has said something wrong, I am beginning to doubt what the President's staff is doing. They should advise the President on what and how and when to say something in public.

In my humble opinion, a president cannot have a personal opinion as everything he says and everything he does is considered to be on behalf of Indonesians. There are famous names in the Presidential entourage, all are well-versed in politics and national history.

We can find the name of a lady who is supposed to be the political adviser, General (ret) Feisal Tanjung who is an experienced politician and historian, occupying the position of coordinating minister for political and security affairs, Akbar Tandjung, general chairman of the functional group (Golkar) who was at the same time secretary of state and many many more.

The Armed Forces or the state have an intelligence body which can advise the President on all kinds of subjects any time the President needs it. So what are these officials doing?

This is not the first time the President has stumbled on the slippery political floor. The first time was when he said that Singapore was unfriendly towards Indonesia, after they didn't send him a letter of congratulations at the time of his installment to office. Singapore answered this accusation by sending tons of rice to Indonesia to help the needy.

The second time was when the President said at a dinner that on Jan. 1, 2000, East Timor will not be a burden anymore for Indonesia. Judging from the present political development in East Timor, a strong possibility exists that the East Timorese will want to stay within the Republic.

I hope everybody has learned a lesson from the President's "political slip of the tongue" and I hope the staff will be more active in serving the President by preventing him from making any further unnecessary mistakes.

Although the President has made a correction, what was said will be in the hearts and minds of the people for a long time. Next time say it better, if there is a next time.

SOEGIH ARTO

Jakarta