Awaiting President's move

Awaiting President's move

From Rakyat Merdeka

With their hearts throbbing, the people witnessed every second
of the process of the presidential election up to the election of
Abdurrahman Wahid as Indonesia's fourth president. We also
witnessed how the general chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) Mrs. Megawati magnanimously
shook hands with the new president, even though she was the
candidate from the party which had won the most votes in the
general election.

This marked the first step of democracy, and, despite its
shortcomings, something like this has never happened before. Now
the people are more knowledgeable about the stages of a
presidential election. They also know that seeking a consensus
through deliberation is more difficult than it was in the past.
The sessions were full of interruptions and highlighted by
debates.

The fact now lying before us is that Abdurrahman Wahid is our
new president. The question to ask now is: What next? What the
people hope to have is not just a new president, but, more
importantly, they are hoping to see total reforms, including the
following:
- to escape from the economic crisis;
- to implement the reform agenda;
- to settle the cases of Aceh, East Timor, Irian Jaya and so
forth;
- to settle cases related to corruption, collusion and nepotism;
- to establish justice-based supremacy of the law;
- to achieve prosperity, create employment opportunities and
eradicate narcotics.

I don't think I can enumerate in detail all the tasks ahead,
because there are too many things that have to be put in order by
the new government. Let's wait for the move to be taken by Gus
Dur. We'll see what can be achieved in the first three months of
his administration. First we must consider his cabinet line-up,
and then his "crash program".

To Mr. Abdurrahman Wahid, who was chosen to be the president,
I wish to extend my congratulations. Please always bear in mind
that there is a mountain of work, and over 200 million people are
awaiting your moves.

BAMBANG SUMANTRI

Jakarta