Gus Dur calls for people's understanding
Gus Dur calls for people's understanding
JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid renewed his call on
Monday for the public to be patient and understanding of the
slow pace of the reform movement.
Speaking at the opening of a symposium held by the Association
of the University of Indonesia Alumni (Iluni-UI), Abdurrahman
said a total reform of a system which ruled the country for more
than 32 years could not take place overnight.
But despite the difficulties, the President underlined his
commitment to keeping the reform movement on track.
"I will guarantee we will not ignore the democratization
process, law enforcement, freedom of speech for all citizens and
the honest accountability of the government to the public,"
Abdurrahman said.
He vowed he would not hesitate to clarify any corruption,
collusion and nepotism which could be linked to him or his
administration.
"Personally, it doesn't bother me if I have to face
questioning for any alleged corruption or collusion," he said.
His eight-month-old government has met with criticism for its
failure to quickly improve the country's economy and legal
certainty. At the same time there have been signs of the return
of corruption, collusion and nepotism practices that involve
Abdurrahman's inner circle, including the Bulog scandal and the
appointment of Abdurrahman's bother Hasyim Wahid as an official
at the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA).
Abdurrahman said the public could not rely on the ideal
implementation of reform and forget the actual difficulty in
upholding the law, especially when it came to solving many high-
profile corruption or human rights abuse cases.
"To prove all the allegations in the light of law is not easy
and people tend to blame the attorney general for it, while the
attorney general almost cries whenever he discusses those cases
with me," Abdurrahman said.
He further attributed the difficulty in carrying out legal
reform to the House of Representatives, which need to change many
regulations which are the legacy of the past regime.
"The reform movement should be conducted in a legal framework.
I plead to the public to have a little patience and give us a
fair chance, the government and the House, so we can carry out
legal reform properly," he said.
The President also said the country's political leaders had
yet to show their commitment to putting national interests above
all else.
"We can see that most of our leaders are busy with their
private or group's agenda, and only a few of them really think
about national interest," Abdurrahman said.
He also blasted many parties for appraising his administration
and setting a time limit for him to correct the system and
conduct total reform.
"I hate any time limit and I do not want to listen to the
unfair performance appraisals, which are based on rumors, because
every decision I make is for the sake of national interest," he
said.
Abdurrahman also said the reform movement was the nation's
responsibility and the government only played a role as the
initiator while the rest was up to the people.
"I call on everybody to educate themselves and the community
to establish clean and good governance. It is up to the people
and never put the responsibility on the government," he said.
(dja)