New practice

New practice

From Jurnal Indonesia

The reform era, which was ushered in by Soeharto's bold act of
relinquishing power, has seen stepping down or withdrawal from
one's position become a new trend.

Apart from former president Soeharto, former president B.J.
Habibie also withdrew from the presidential race. A few other
government officials have done likewise in certain cases.

However, after stepping down became a common practice,
relieving a person of his post then became a trend. President
Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid begun this practice. He has relieved
Gen. Wiranto, BI governor Syahril Sabirin, Jusuf Kalla, Laksamana
Sukardi and so forth from their respective positions.

Now Gus Dur has taken it a step further. Exercising his
prerogative, he discharged National Police chief Gen. Rusdihardjo
and Indonesian Military (TNI) deputy commander Fachrul Rozy from
their respective positions. Both were relieved of their
positions, they did not ask to step down but were forced to do
so.

On the one hand, we are witnessing a new practice, i.e. the
courage to discharge someone. On the other, however, I wonder
whether this nation is really prepared for this new practice.

IVAN RUSTIADI

Jakarta