Military sets criteria for next president

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Military (TNI) has set four criteria for the presidency for the next five years, a decisive period for the nation's future, a senior military official said on Wednesday.

TNI Chief of Territorial Affairs Lt. Gen. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said according to the criteria, the next president should be able to lead the nation and maintain national unity, defuse the prolonged economic and political crisis and be widely accepted.

"The military does not care who will be the next president -- civilian or military. The most important thing is that he/she meets the criteria," he said at the establishment of the Center for Government and Political Ethics Studies (Puskap) at the Hotel Indonesia in Central Jakarta.

Susilo said that the criteria was set on the basis of the special conditions the nation would face within the next five years.

The next president will be required to have an ability in handling troubled provinces that demand independence and in defusing the economic and political crisis, he said.

The general said that the military has until November to announce its presidential and vice presidential candidates when the People's Consultative Assembly's General Session is scheduled.

"TNI will channel its aspiration on that matter through its 38 representatives in the 700-member Assembly," he said.

He also said on Monday that the military would accept if Megawati Soekarnoputri, chairperson of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) and Amien Rais, chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN), were chosen.

TNI Commander Gen. Wiranto has been named by the Golkar Party and many other minority political parties as their vice presidential candidate for the 1999-2004 period.

Separately, noted Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid and Minister of Horticulture A.M. Saefuddin agreed that the next president should be honest and wise with a strong commitment to fight against prevalent corruption, collusion and nepotism.

Nurcholish said that the next president should have such a strong commitment because the main agenda of the reform movement was to battle against corruption, collusion and nepotism.

"Such a criterium should be imposed on our next president because it was the reform movement's main agenda to eradicate corruption, collusion and nepotism," he said in a seminar on Wednesday on the nation's next leader.

Saefuddin blamed former president Soeharto for the current turmoil of power abuses.

Political ethics

Meanwhile, Ryaas Rasyid, director general for public administration and regional autonomy at the Home Affairs Ministry, said that the Center for Government and Political Ethics Studies was established to promote the political ethics among government officials and politicians and to help uphold the social justice.

"The center in cooperation with local and international agencies will organize seminars, workshops and discussions and publish books on political ethics to promote the code of it," he said.

He insisted the importance of introducing comprehensive political ethics to improve people's political sensitivity. He cited for an example that nepotism is prohibited not by law but political ethics.

Ryaas, who is also the center's executive director, said that corruption, collusion and nepotism were prevalent during the New Order era because of the ignorance of political ethics. (rms/01)