Amien deserves to be president

I refer to the letter written by Mrs. Hilda May which appeared in The Jakarta Post on April 10, 2001 titled :Amien Rais a real disappointment. Mrs. Hilda charged that Amien Rais and his allies, grouped under the Axis Force, were selfish and only promoted their group's interest as they had supported President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid to win the presidency, but were now trying to topple him.

Her view is true to some extent, but it is not holistic. Hilda emphasized too much on the power struggle of the elite, but did not count on the virtues of the political move. As educated people, we should understand that political battle is common and natural. There is nothing wrong with it as long as it is constitutional. Instead of taking sides, we should focus on the objectives of the many political groups, in this case, Amien and the Axis Force.

The move to replace Gus Dur is understandable and inevitable. The country's economy has not improved, and violence haunts every corner of the country.

Jusuf Wanandi said, on the front page of the Post in its April 11 issue, that "Abdurrahman Wahid is incompetent to lead the country. It seems the country has no leadership today". Besides being incompetent, Abdurrahman Wahid has also failed to eradicate corruption. Even the President himself is suspected of being involved in corruption in the Bulog and Brunei scandals.

Most importantly, Gus Dur has failed give hope to his countrymen, he has failed to shed light on how to solve the country's problems. We need inspiration, and only a strong leader is able to do that. We need strong, but democratic and rational leadership. Amien Rais is a potential contender for the presidency. He is not corrupt, and is rational, decisive, persevering and tactical. His inclination toward the right wing Muslim movement is disappointing, but he is changing. He has realized that Indonesia is a very diverse country in terms of religion and ethnicity.

Amien did not win as many votes as Megawati and Gus Dur in the general election. His parents are ordinary people, unlike Megawati, who is a daughter of the late president Sukarno, or Abdurrahman, who is the son of Hasyim Ashari, a former Nahdlatul Ulama chairman. If we cannot have him now, Megawati will do, but only as a transitional president. Megawati respects the law, but she is even less competent than Gus Dur.

A'AN SURYANA

Canberra