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