Asking Gus Dur to step down

Asking Gus Dur to step down

From Warta Kota

We have repeatedly heard of the existence of several parties
asking for President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid's resignation.
The reasons are among others: Gus Dur has traveled abroad many
times during his less than one-year presidency with insubstantial
results.

Another reason is: amid the serious crisis there is neither
any consolidation nor concrete programs. In addition, Gus Dur is
said to have demanded the revocation of the Decree No.
XXV/MPRS/1966 of the Provisional People's Consultative Assembly
(MPRS) effectively lifting the ban on the propagation of
Communism and the Communist Party. He raised the salaries of
higher government officials by up to one thousand percent,
whereas salaries of lower employees only by 10 percent to 20
percent. He also changed the name of Irian Jaya to Papua and has
allowed its people to hoist the Morning Star flag.

In my opinion, this violates articles 5 and 35 of the 1945
Constitution. If this was revealed prior to his election as
president, the entire nation would have definitely opposed it.

In view of these facts, MPR speaker Amien Rais, who together
with his central axis group was responsible for making Gus Dur
president, appears disappointed. So are the members of the House
of Representatives.

This mess will probably not happen again in future. But it is
worth noting that the election which resulted in Gus Dur's
presidency was quite contextual. The circumstances revolving
around Gus Dur's position then were unique. It was evident that
the presidential and vice presidential elections in the 1999 MPR
general session ran smoothly and were an extraordinary
contribution to the state which was then threatened by national
dissension.

Furthermore, all parties understood what had happened and were
also aware of Gus Dur's physical condition. Therefore asking him
to step down through an extraordinary MPR session is in my
opinion useless, because no party in the MPR can give a guarantee
that things will improve. On the other hand, certain parties may
take advantage of it, and this nation will again be threatened by
dissension.

That is why Gus Dur had better act prudently, for example by
separating the position of head of state from that of head of the
government.

A consensus between Gus Dur, Megawati, MPR speaker, House
speaker and Chairman of the Supreme Advisory Council needs to be
sought for a general election to be held in 2002 or at the latest
in 2003. All parties should understand that during a transitional
period it is difficult to hold office until the end of the term.
So, it's not necessary to blame each other.

MM HARSO

Jakarta