'Leaders should come from different groups'

'Leaders should come from different groups'

JAKARTA: Indonesia's President and vice president should come
from different ethnic groups to ensure the leadership reflected
the country's cultural diversity, constitutional law expert Sri
Soemantri said on Thursday

This idea could be incorporated into the amended Constitution
as part of its revision process, he said.

Soemantri, who chairs an ad-hoc team assessing the amended
constitution, said that a diverse nation like Indonesia needed
diverse representation to keep the nation intact.

"We do not want the position of the President and the vice
president to be dominated by one racial group," he said.

All five of Indonesia's presidents since independence on Aug.
17, 1945, have been identified with one ethnic group.

Founding president Sukarno, whose parents were Javanese and
Balinese, considered himself Javanese.

Soeharto and Abdurrahman Wahid are Javanese. Megawati, whose
mother, Fatmawati, was born in Bengkulu is considered to be
Javanese. BJ Habibie, who was born in South Sulawesi, is also
Javanese. -- Antara