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