Morality part of politics

Morality part of politics

From Koran Tempo

The presumption of innocence is the legal principle that all
of us should respect as it is part of law enforcement itself.
Obviously, the Attorney General's Office has named Akbar Tandjung
as a suspect in the case of Buloggate II with all the necessary
evidence and witnesses. It follows that Akbar Tandjung will
immediately be questioned and then put on trial.

The problem is that Akbar Tandjung is not an ordinary citizen.
He is the Speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR). The
House, as we all know, represents a nation with a population of
more than 250 million people. He is also a member of the
country's legislature, which lays down the laws of the government
and the Republic of Indonesia.

Many people have been calling on Akbar Tandjung to temporarily
resign from his position as House Speaker. While no regulations
and laws oblige legislators, or high-ranking state officials
allegedly involved in corruption, to step down, moral values and
ethics, which are certainly elements making up the law, require
otherwise.

It is hard to believe that a highly respectable institution
like the House continues to be led by a person with the status of
a suspect. If Akbar remains in his present position, there will
be many activities in the House that will become less effective
and this situation will certainly raise protests from
legislators, especially considering that we are now in the reform
era.

From an ethical and moral viewpoint, Akbar Tandjung, as a
statesman, had better resign or declare himself to be temporarily
a non-active legislator.

I believe that Akbar Tandjung will listen to public
aspirations and understand moral and ethical values. If he
magnanimously decides to step down and wait for another
opportunity in the 2004 general election, he will heed moral and
ethical values. It must be borne in mind that morality and ethics
are part of any political campaign.

WAWAN IRIAWAN

Jakarta