Nurcholis asks Gus Dur, Amien to be silent

Nurcholis asks Gus Dur, Amien to be silent

JAKARTA (JP): Noted Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid urged
People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais and President
Abdurrahman Wahid to stop making controversial statements.

Speaking to journalists on Thursday, Nurcholish asked the two
national and religious leaders to exercise self-restraint to
minimize the risk of a possible conflict among Muslims in the
country.

"I urge my friends Gus Dur and Amien Rais, as the highest
leaders of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, to avoid making
such extravagant and outrageous statements," he remarked, calling
Abdurrahman by his nickname.

Amien formerly chaired the Muhammadiyah organization before he
was appointed as the National Mandate Party's chairman in 1998.
Abdurrahman chaired NU, the largest Muslim organization, for the
last 15 years before becoming President.

Nurcholish reminded the politicians that they should not go
too far with their statements as they could create political
terror, which would have a negative influence on the
democratization process in the country.

"We should not let political terror happen. We should not
forget our common sense when solving the country's problems in a
positive way. Terror means we are not civilized," he said.

Calls have been mounted for political elites, particularly
Abdurrahman, Amien and House of Representatives Speaker Akbar
Tandjung, to exercise restraint and stop making conflicting
statements ahead of the Assembly's General Session in August.

Some even asked for a people's movement to put pressure on the
elites to establish a political pause.

Tommy Legowo and J. Kristiadi of the Centre for Strategic and
International Studies (CSIS) joined the chorus of concern over
the fray between political elites.

Speaking in a regular media meeting on current political and
economic issues, Tommy warned the political elites that
continuing their ferocious exchange of words would only lead to
anarchy rather than democratization. This, he said, is feared to
put the nation on the brink of disintegration.

He said it was more important for the elites to work for the
people's welfare, because the country has yet to emerge from
economic recession.

Kristiadi dismissed speculation that the call for a political
pause would only benefit President Abdurrahman, who has come
under persistent criticism for his controversial policies.

"The political pause is to stop the power struggle between
political elites and remind them of people's interests,"
Kristiadi said.

Another CSIS political expert Kusnanto Anggoro expects the
700-member Assembly to set a realistic target in the upcoming
session.

"For example, the Assembly does not have to force itself to
complete amendments to the 1945 Constitution because there are
many important issues left unnoticed in the deliberation of the
constitutional amendment," Kusnanto said.

In Yogyakarta, observer Pratikno called for reconciliation
among political elites, warning that unseating President
Abdurrahman would not help establish an "effective government"
but only sharpen the political divide.

The Gadjah Mada University political scientist noted that the
political problems would only become more serious and complex if
a president elected less than a year earlier was toppled.

"Replacing Abdurrahman Wahid with Vice President Megawati
Soekarnoputri has nothing to do with the real problems facing the
country," he said.

He said the ascendancy of Megawati as president would only
complicate matters further, especially if she was not backed up
by Abdurrahman.

Pratikno remarked that Megawati would immediately come under
attack from the Axis Force.

According to Pratikno, the most immediate step to be taken by
Abdurrahman after the Assembly's General Session in August is to
conduct a cabinet overhaul with a new lineup which excludes all
political parties except for the National Awakening Party (PKB)
and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).

This way, he said, the cabinet would likely be more solid.

"Let the executive build a solid cabinet lineup with PKB and
PDI Perjuangan controlling the cabinet".

"But at the same time there should also be a clear opposition
force in the House of Representatives with the Golkar Party and
the Axis Force". (44/dja)