Nurcholish to run for presidency
Nurcholish to run for presidency
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Noted Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid announced on Monday his
intention to run for presidency in 2004, offering a platform
which is aimed at rebuilding the nation through the principles of
democracy.
"Insya Allah (God willing), I'm ready to be one of the
presidential candidates," Nurcholish said at a press conference.
Known as a low-profile figure, Nurcholish is the first
nonpartisan to announce his presidential bid.
Nurcholish, better known as Cak Nur, said democracy in the
country had improved much compared to 1999, when the nation was
learning about true democracy.
Indonesia is to hold a landmark direct presidential election
in 2004 in its effort to build a more legitimate government.
However, public participation looks to remain minimal until the
balloting as presidential candidates will be determined by the
political parties.
Nurcholish said winning or losing did not matter to him as his
main goal was to sell his 10-point platform to the public.
"We have reached a state of 'to be, or not to be'. We must ask
all parties to rebuild the country which is now being threatened
by disintegration," he said.
Good governance at every level of each administration and
institution will top his agenda of national rebuilding,
Nurcholish asserted.
"We know that every position in the country can be bought. We
must stop such a practice, once and for all," he said.
His next priority was consistent law enforcement, followed by
national reconciliation.
"We must learn from the past and vow not to repeat past
mistakes. We need to see our future in a spirit of peace, and
unite all elements of the nation. We must draw a firm line to
forgive the past, but to not forget it," he said.
He proposed economic reform through production activities that
involved as many poor people as possible.
Civilians, particularly the press and the academic community,
would be entitled to freedom, while the clear-cut division of
labor between the executive, legislature and judicial powers must
be complied with, he said.
"It's part of the effort to develop and strengthen democratic
institutions," he said.
He noted that national defense and security should be
developed by rebuilding the dignity of military and police
officers within the framework of democracy.
"We have seen that the military and the police ignore their
national duty of defending and securing the nation," he said.
He maintained that national unity could be preserved through a
cultural approach and the recognition of pluralism and regional
autonomy, instead of the use of military force.
The last three main goals of his platform are to expand the
coverage of national education and raise its quality, to realize
social justice and to take an initiative in building world peace.
The Golkar Party and the National Awakening Party (PKB) are
among those political parties that have expressed their interest
in nominating Nurcholish as their presidential candidate.
He admitted to having formed a campaign team which includes "a
number of idealistic youths".