Gus Dur's personal wishes

The Jakarta Post on Jan. 6, 2001, published a letter from Adhie M. Massardi, the presidential spokesman, on comments made by Adi Sasono over President Abdurrahman Wahid's statement concerning the New Order regime. Adhie quoted the President's remark that not all elements of the New Order or Golkar were bad and not all non-New Order elements were good. The President disagrees with the generalization of matters concerning the past regime.

I find Gus Dur's stance on the issue fair, but I am questioning his criteria in rejecting the candidacies of both Muladi and Bagir Manan for Supreme Court chief justice, as reported in the Post's Jan. 6 page 2 article, President denies shifting task to VP.

If the President's rejection was not due to their ties with the New Order, would it be due to their dishonesty? Gus Dur did make a remark about Muladi's past failure to pay his income tax.

It appears to me that Gus Dur has, on several occasions, placed his personal wishes above the wishes of the public, as channeled through the House of Representatives. The firing of Laksamana Sukardi and Jusuf Kalla from their ministerial posts and Rusdihardjo as National Police chief, and Sjahril Sabirin's detention, are some examples of the President acting according to his personal dislikes.

The debate over the Supreme Court chief justice post is still continuing, while Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri has turned down the mandate of choosing alternative candidates, returning the responsibility to the President. On the other hand, Gus Dur seems firm in his refusal. The public is waiting for the outcome this matter, which could increase the country's political and economic instability.

Y. LUCAS

Jakarta