'Bung' Karno and other leaders

'Bung' Karno and other leaders

From Media Indonesia

Indonesia's first president Sukarno, is still remembered fondly by many Indonesians. Charismatic Sukarno was honored as a national fighter and his teachings are still popular to date.

Sukarno, however, left dark pages in the history of the country as during his presidency, he tended to act as a dictator. He appointed himself a lifelong president and was often involved in conflicts with other Indonesian figures like Bung Hatta, Agus Salim, and Tengku Daud Bereuh. In the last years of his presidency, the country underwent a turbulent economic period. Moral decadence swept through the country. Starvation was everywhere. The communist party was legalized. And last but not least, war reparations and the state's assets from nationalization of foreign firms could not be traced and have been untraceable until now.

Indonesia's second president Soeharto, magnanimously gave up his position as president while still in office. During his administration, the country's economy and security were slowly returning to normal. His five-year development plans slowly but surely transformed Indonesia from a poor country to a member of the developing nations. Unfortunately, Soeharto also left dark pages in the history of the country. Economic activities were concentrated only in a small number of companies. People's economic power was weak. Corruption, collusion and nepotism were rampant. The country, unavoidably, suffered a severe economy setback. Worse still, there was no legal certainty as the law was only rhetorical. Political opponents were silenced immediately.

B.J. Habibie was Indonesia's third president. A technocrat, he was very intelligent. Unfortunately, as he was raised during the New Order era and inherited this regime, people showed their apathy toward him, leading to the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) rejecting his accountability report. Habibie did not have enough time to prove his administrative prowess.

Abdurrahman Wahid is Indonesia's fourth president. He is a democrat and a leading figure of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the largest Muslim organization. Unfortunately, he has lately been rocked by his controversial statements. A special session of the MPR will shortly be convened to decide his fate.

The above description indicates that every leadership style has its pluses and minuses. The four persons referred to earlier, the nation's great leaders, must be respected by the entire nation. As a civilized nation, we should not suspect other people and should, instead, forgive them for their mistakes while leaving legal violations to the courts of law. If we are to declare ourselves a nation with magnanimity and one that appreciates the merits of its heroes and leaders, the commemoration must be given not only to Sukarno, but also to other heroes and leaders whose merits were greater than Sukarno's but were not recorded in history.

SUHAIMI IMRAN

Jakarta