Educational background not vital to presidency

The following is the second of two articles on presidential candidacy prepared by Ikrar Nusa Bhakti, acting head of the Division for International and Regional Affairs at the Center for Political and Regional Studies, the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Jakarta.

JAKARTA (JP): As a democratic leader, President B.J. Habibie should accept that the result of the June 7 general election will be a vote of no confidence toward him, his government and Golkar, as also mentioned by a few of Golkar's young leaders. Until now, Golkar has received only 10.1 percent of the votes in the capital city of Jakarta, the place of the central government and the center of political activities in the country. So far, Golkar has also only received about 18 percent of the national votes. On the other hand, Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) has won 39 percent of the votes in Jakarta and about 38 percent nationally. It means that he must concede defeat and congratulate Megawati and allow her to have the first chance of establishing a new coalition government. Lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis said on many occasions that Megawati must be given the first chance to form a new government, and it is time for the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) members to have a dynamic interpretation about the Constitution, particularly on the election of president. According to Lubis, it is not necessary that the president be elected through 50 percent plus one percent, but it is possible that we have a minority government led by Megawati if the party wins the elections with almost 40 percent of the votes.

Megawati and her party also have so many weaknesses. For example, Megawati is seen as a non-academic leader, who rejected people's demands that the Constitution be amended, Soeharto be brought to trial, the Indonesian Military's (TNI) dual function be ended and the discussion be opened regarding the form of the Indonesian state as either a unitary or federal one. From her educational background, Megawati has no university degree.

However, there is no article mentioned in the 1945 Constitution that the presidential candidate must have a university degree. It is probable that Megawati would be able to become a successful president in this second transitional period. She is supported by people from every social, economic, political, religious, ethnic and educational background, so that she can become a symbol of national unity in a pluralistic society.

As far as the party platform on the military's dual function is concerned, PDI Perjuangan has been accused as very ambiguous. However, if we read all the 48 political parties' platforms on this issue, only 33 political parties show an interest. From that number, a few political parties still support the dual function, while most want to end it gradually, including National Mandate Party (PAN), PDI Perjuangan and National Awakening Party (PKB). Only one, the Democratic People's Party (PRD), stated clearly that they want to end the military's dual function now or never.

If Megawati and PDI Perjuangan reject to end the dual function, it will not only go against people's interests, but also the interests of the military. The military has shown its eagerness to change its role in Indonesian politics, from a dominant power to being one which has an influence in politics.

To have an influence does not necessarily mean to be on the front line, but could also mean in the back. The military only wants to have role-sharing with the civilian government. So as such, we can only give them the role as guardian or defender of the state, rather than as guardian of the government.

We also have to avoid inviting the military to take sides in politics, because once civilians invite the military to have a say in Indonesian politics, the military will step-by-step dominate the scene as they did from 1957 to the end of Soeharto's reign. The involvement of the military in politics is also against their own interest, as stated by Gen. Wiranto who said the military would resign from everyday politics.

Until now, there have also been pressures from the political elite and the masses to put Soeharto on trial. Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid was of the opinion that Megawati's reluctance to put him on trial was based on her personal and family background, rather than political background.

According to Nurcholish, although students pushed Soeharto to put Megawati's father, first president Sukarno, on trial in the mid-1960s, Soeharto rejected the idea with the reasons that we must respect and cover up for our elder leader. It was probable, however, that Soeharto's refusal to put Sukarno on trial was not only because of his respect toward him, but also because Soeharto was afraid that Sukarno might open his mouth about what happened during the 1965/1966 period and March 11, 1966 Letter of Executive Order (Supersemar) given by Sukarno to Soeharto.

But what Soeharto did to Sukarno was even worse and has haunted the Sukarno family. Sukarno was put under house detention in Wisma Yaso, now a military museum on Jl. Gatot Subroto in South Jakarta, and was not allowed to see people, let alone his family.

The problem is, how will we treat Soeharto? On this subject, we can learn from some countries experiencing transitions from authoritarianism to democracy. In Pakistan and Rumania, for example, presidents Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Nicolai Caecescu were respectively hung and executed just after the fall of their governments.

In some Latin American countries, the new civilian government gave amnesty to those who committed crimes. There was also a pact between old and new governments that the new one promised to provide enough of a budget to the military to be able to perform as the guardians of the state -- not as the guardians of the regime.

Another example is South Korea, where former presidents and military generals, Roh Tae-woo and Chun Do-hwan, were brought to trial by the Kim Young-sam government, then put in jail for a short time and released by the new Kim Dae-yung government.

Some political elite prefer we follow the Koreans' steps, particularly if Megawati wins the presidential election. We cannot expect too much from President Habibie to bring Soeharto to trial because of his closeness with his former professor and mentor. The slowness of the investigation by the Attorney General's Office on the alleged corruption, collusion and nepotism practices of the Soeharto family is one of many examples how the Habibie government is reluctant to put Soeharto on trial.

It will depend on the MPR members to decide whether they will vote for Megawati or Habibie. When choosing between the two leaders, the members must analyze what the cost and benefits will be regarding people's feelings, the economic recovery, the unity of Indonesia and the future of this nation and its people.

The two presidential candidates each have their own weaknesses, but we cannot reject a leader because she is a woman, is not a university graduate nor an expert in technology. The result of the general election shows the people demand a change of government. As such, it is against their interest to maintain a status quo government which has lost a legitimacy from the people.