A woman for president

A woman for president

With reference to the future presidency of Indonesia, I was
surprised and disappointed by the recent remarks made by
"reformist" Amien Rais and Abdurrahman Wahid, which only serve to
support the political camp that opposes the choice of "a woman"
for Indonesia's next president. By their refusal to state openly
their support for the basic right for women to hold the
presidential office, they appear to have thrown their lot in with
such political figures as Hamzah Haz of the United Development
Party (PPP), whose fellow party member Amir Syafruddin last year
started the whole ugly circle of doubt regarding whether, in the
eyes of Islam, a woman should be allowed to hold the position of
president.

First, I should say that, as a person who embraces the
essence of all religions, I believe that God is far closer to us
than we may realize and that the real mosque, church or place of
worship is in the human heart. As an old adage goes, "If one
cannot find a temple within one's heart, one will never find
one's heart in any temple."

Second, I read the Koran many years ago before visiting
Indonesia and I felt the Holy Book to be inspirational and
enlightening. However, I do not recall having read within the
scripture any mention of the word "president". Of course, there
were no presidents or vice presidents in the days of Prophet
Muhammad. Nevertheless, there were leaders that ruled small or
large groups of mainly feudal peoples, but it should be
remembered that those leaders of Islamic, and non-Islamic,
societies were not chosen as most leaders of the countries of the
world are today -- by the people's democratic majority vote.

Those political figures who weave their tangled webs in the
name of religion in the run-up to the election of a president, I
feel, are creating enormous divisions with society and should
know better.

Not only do they appear to be driving a wedge between the
various religious communities that make up Indonesia, they are
acting in a selfish, distasteful and discriminatory manner
against women, who, incidentally, make up approximately one-half
of the entire population. I cannot help but feel that Ibu
Kartini, the champion of Indonesian women's rights -- so
conveniently forgotten about in Jakarta's political circles --
must be weeping a thousand tears in her heavenly abode at this
present time.

Oddly, political parties were not permitted to use religion as
a platform during the campaign for votes. But now it has become
clear for everyone to see that a large religious platform is
being erected in preparation for the election of a president. Is
this not blatant hypocrisy?

ROBIN HOLMAN

Sanur, Bali