Appeal to political elite
Appeal to political elite
From Rakyat Merdeka
As a freedom fighter of the 1945 generation, I, Let. Gen. (ret) M. Jasin, 80 years of age, have prepared an appeal to the political elite. It was exactly three months ago that Sultan Hamengkubuwono X invited four high ranking state officials -- the President, Vice President, Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly and Speaker of the House of Representatives -- to come to Yogyakarta to consult on ways to overcome the problems facing the multifaceted crisis afflicting the nation.
I postponed my appeal in the hope that the Yogyakarta conference would yield "harmonious relationships" among the four political elite. However, we have a contrary reality: The four prominent figures are continually "fighting against each other".
Given these circumstances, with an honest heart and ambition- free motive I would like to appeal to the four national leaders as follows;
1. Schedule monthly informal meetings. The four should take turns hosting the meeting in their homes.
2. Put aside all attributes.
3. Forget all the protocol arrangements.
4. Talk and consult with each other honestly as children of the nation with the purpose of overcoming the crises gripping our country.
5. Talk openly as members of one family. Allow even heated discussions to occur, but afterwards let all participants cool down and forgive each other.
6. Be sure that one confidential secretary is present to record the talks and keep them confidential.
7. The following month check whether the schemes agreed upon in the previous month were implemented correctly, or did violations occur.
8. If, in the past, the Ciganjur talks were successful, there would be no reason for these proposed talks to fail, particularly since the participants are official national leaders.
Supposed my appeal does not reach its target and the four leaders continue to attack each other and the crisis drags on, or even the condition gets worse. If I were in their place, I would consider myself a traitor to this country. Then I would feel I had totally failed and all my contributions and great sufferings for this country as a national patriot -- fighting against the militaristic Japanese in 1945, Dutch colonialists and the Madiun communist uprising in 1948, was meaningless.
I need to stress that this appeal is purely my own, and does not represent any groups whatsoever. In fact I have always been a single fighter, and have had bitter experiences whenever I joined any group. This I said in my memoir titled I never ask for forgiveness to Soeharto, page 140.
M. JASIN
Jakarta