Gus Dur should step down

Gus Dur should step down

I have read Prof. Daniel S. Lev's article, Abdurrahman Wahid,
don't step down, published in Kompas on Feb. 3, 2001 but cannot
agree with his argument. In my opinion President Abdurrahman "Gus
Dur" Wahid must immediately step down to avoid the present
circumstances from worsening because he has failed to lead this
country and has, consequently, lost most of his legitimacy as
President.

The special committee of the House of Representatives set up
to conduct inquiries about Buloggate and Bruneigate has come up
with the finding that Gus Dur is strongly suspected of being
involved in the financial scandal and that he has lied to the
public in the case of Bruneigate. The result of this special
committee has been accepted by the House by the majority of its
members in a voting and the House will shortly send a memorandum
to the President.

Lev wrote that if the President steps down and is replaced by
Vice President Megawati, her administration will be undermined by
the National Awakening Party (PKB), which will seek revenge. Lev
added, "If Gus Dur steps down, it means that he loses in the
struggle to marginalize (the political role of the military)". In
his opinion, if Megawati becomes Indonesia's president, the
military will again play an important role because Megawati likes
the military. Lev then asked, "If the military plays an important
role again, who will be disadvantaged?"

Considering the result of the voting on the outcome of the
special committee's work, I don't think the PKB will successfully
undermine Megawati (if Lev's assumption is correct). Moreover I
believe the PKB will still hold on to its idealism and will never
resort to destructive acts. It surprises me that Lev thinks so
little of the military. His generalization is biased. In my
opinion, not everybody in the military is contemptible in terms
of their political attitude, behavior and character. General
Wiranto, for example, voluntarily withdrew from the presidential
race after the last general election to give way to Gus Dur. Many
other military figures are like general Wiranto and it is
irrelevant to mention their names here. I don't think Lev is
entirely right in his statement that Gus Dur is meritorious in
marginalizing the Military in the political arena. Gus Dur came
forward at the right time when the Military, seriously criticized
by the community, began to reduce their political role. The House
has reduced the number of seats allotted to the Military and the
Police and in future there will not be a special faction in the
House. It is now time, I believe, for us all, laymen and experts
alike, to stop denouncing the Military. We must view a problem in
a balanced way.

About Lev's comment that the finding of the House's special
committee and the memorandum will be no problem to Gus Dur; in my
opinion Lev has belittled the work of the House. Obviously, Lev
is very inaccurate in this evaluation. The House has decided that
the President should be suspected of involvement in Buloggate, a
criminal case punishable with imprisonment. This is not simply a
political matter as Daniel thinks. When the House, which
represents the entire people, suspects that the President is
involved in Buloggate, it will be very difficult for the
President to carry out his job as a president because his
legitimacy has dwindled.

Lastly, Indonesia's economic crisis is the concern of the
entire Indonesian people. It is also the concern of domestic and
foreign investors, not only of American investors.

MUHD. RAMZY HASIBUAN

Jakarta