In the shadow of Lopa

The crusade to create a clean and democratic government is no easy job for developing nations, especially Indonesia which has been widely known as one of the most corrupt countries on this planet.

Before President Megawati Soekarnoputri named Muhammad Abdul Rachman, a career public prosecutor, as the new attorney general on Tuesday, our nation had turned itself inside out in an effort to find the right man to fill the post, which is a pivotal pillar to upholding supremacy of the law. The post had been left vacant following the unexpected death of Baharuddin Lopa in early July.

Although Lopa held the post for less than one month, he deserves our admiration and great respect -- because he was exceptional. Lopa was so full of integrity, strength, honesty and sincerity that he had enough courage to start his lone crusade against corruption more than two decades ago. The government and the general public recognized his meritorious deeds. Megawati posthumously awarded him a prestigious medal of merit on Tuesday.

And so exceptional was Lopa that perhaps every thinking citizen agreed that he was almost impossible to replace. This group of people included Megawati, the President. When she announced her first Cabinet lineup last week, the President was still unable to find someone to replace Lopa. She certainly did not want to be accused of making the national fight against corruption a small-time job.

On the other hand, the difficulty in finding an adequate replacement has been influenced by popular logic demanding that they must be well known for their honesty. Megawati was not expected to try to find such a person in the Attorney General's Office because the effort would be akin to trying to find a needle in a haystack. If she were to appoint someone from the office, it would be near impossible for the new attorney general to take action against his own colleagues. So, the vacancy had to be filled with an expert from outside.

While Rachman was sworn in on Wednesday, many people were in the dark about his track record. He was known among a small circle and, although he once worked for Lopa and received special guidance from him, that does equate to inheriting Lopa's character.

The President has faced an extremely difficult assignment. However, judging by her instruction to the new attorney general that he make his new house clean -- because it has been notoriously dirty in the eyes of the public -- Megawati must be convinced that Rachman is an honest man. At least the most honest among all the candidates. We hope that the new attorney general will not be the first point of weakness within the Cabinet.