Courage to lose

Courage to lose

From Republika

The lack of courage on the part of political-party leaders to lose in the June 7 general election and their increasing egoism are becoming more and more apparent. Many community circles are concerned about this, as is prominent scholar Nurcholish Madjid, rector of Paramadina Mulia University. He has reminded everyone, especially the political elite, to be adult in politics. In this context, he considers it a necessity to campaign the idea of "the courage to lose in the general election".

In my opinion, this contains a lot of wisdom. It needs the support of all. Negative statements from some political-party leaders in the run-up to the general election have made many Indonesians anxious about the days leading to the elections.

The people strongly hope for a cool and peaceful situation. They hope that the political-party leaders show wisdom, reject mutual suspicion and enmity and do away with excessive egoism of political parties. Their high hope is that the people's interests prevail over political parties' interests.

The majority of the Indonesian people hope that political- party leaders are not tempted by power, which may encourage man to attain an objective by any means. We know that all forms of deceit risk danger. We also know that to accuse another side of fraud also risks danger. Therefore, we have no other choice than to practice fair play in our efforts to win the hearts of the voters.

The inducement voiced by Nurcholish Madjid, a man with high integrity and credibility, should be widely welcomed for the success of the general election. The elections are the threshold. All sides should prepare themselves to "have the courage to lose" in a noble way. Whoever wins is a victory for the Indonesian nation.

ADNAN MURYA

Indramayu, West Java