Amien urges more debate on succession

Amien urges more debate on succession

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Moslem scholar Amien Rais made a fresh call
yesterday for more unrestricted debate on the national leadership
succession, saying it was needed to help Indonesians grow
politically.

The chairman of the Muhammadiyah Moslem organization expressed
regret that the current discourse on the issue was limited to
debating the candidates for vice president in 1998.

Amien first made the call for new national leadership as well
as nationwide dialogs on the issue in 1994. More recently,
however, he has repeatedly said that President Soeharto would be
reelected next year.

"Discussion on who's going to be our next president should
also be held so that a productive national dialog can ensue," he
told a seminar on political development at Muhammadiyah
University.

"The process of national leadership succession should serve as
momentum for our nation to grow politically," he said. "In order
to usher in this political maturity, discussion on succession
should cover both the presidency and vice presidency."

Amien cited "a political practice against the spirit of
democracy, which is the developing perception that the next
president is 'fixed' and unnegotiable."

He likened succession to two doors in the political landscape,
with one for presidential and the other for vice presidential
candidates.

"One door has been kept tightly shut while the other has
already been opened. The latter is the widely discussed issue of
vice presidential candidates," Amien said.

Indonesians still have nine months before a decision is made
as to who will be the next president and vice president.

"If (after all the discussion) President Soeharto is re-
elected to lead the nation, then the Indonesian people can enjoy
the process and feel satisfied," he said.

Moral force

He said that Muhammadiyah, the country's second largest Moslem
organization consisting of 28 million members, would not mention
any names for the leadership because it wished to serve only as a
moral force that provided ethical and moral guidance.

"The next president and vice president must undertake
constitutional duties, have an unflinching sense of populism,
avoid ... nepotism and reduce the wide social and economic
disparities currently affecting our country," he said.

Amien said that the future candidates must be visionaries able
to lead the country of 200 million people into the many
responsibilities and challenges of the 21st century.

"The candidate must be an expert, capable figure who can
maintain our philosophy of unity in diversity," he said.

The one-day seminar was also attended by Maj. Gen. (ret) Z.A.
Maulani, a defense expert in the office of the state minister of
research and technology, and political analysts Deliar Noer and
Riswandha Imawan. (23/01)