On Gus Dur

On Gus Dur

Reading your editorial Reading the President (Feb. 7, 2000), I
could not help feeling that you have missed some very crucial
points in analyzing our President Abdurrahman Wahid, or Gus Dur.

The weakness of your editorial was explicitly written in its
second and final paragraphs. The issue is not so much of the
President's seemingly over casual style/mannerism in dealing with
all the problems currently plaguing Indonesia. It is really the
President's naked failure to convincingly and consistently
articulate -- which is surprising given Abdurrahman's obvious
intelligence -- a set of priorities in dealing with the numerous
complex issues. This is what is frustrating for some Indonesians.
In his recent RCTI interview, Abdurrahman clearly demonstrated
such a failure. When asked by scholar Mohammad Sobary on his
priorities, instead of directly replying, Abdurrahman recited
quotations made by Harry S. Truman and Franklin D. Roosevelt. At
the same interview, Abdurrahman, probably in some twisted context
of the concept of citizen empowerment, also said that it was time
for Indonesians to "suffer a bit more". When the interviewer said
the people had suffered enough, all we heard was Abdurrahman's
usual charming laughter.

For its conclusions, your editorial suggested that Indonesians
"would do best to get used to his peculiar style of leadership".
Well, since we are paying Abdurrahman's salary through our taxes
(or is it the International Monetary Fund?), why not ask him to
learn about the habits and expectations of most Indonesians
instead? Your logic truly escapes me. I am certain that if you
recite the thesis of your editorial to the Ambonese, Acehnese and
Irianese, or to whoever attended that recent meeting on Jalan
Lautze, they will angrily dispute it.

Your past editorials have consistently criticized our past
presidents. The fact that Mr. Wahid is a legitimate president
should not compromise our rights, and duty, to remind him of our
expectations and his obligations.

To be fair on Abdurrahman, I think what he is trying to
achieve is for Indonesians to develop greater self-confidence in
dealing with the economic and political crises on their own,
while relying less on the government. In a way, this is similar
to what the great former American president, Theodore Roosevelt,
tried to do with Americans during the Great Depression. I sense
this from some of Abdurrahman's rhetoric.

But to heal the deep wounds inflicted by the past
abuses/failures of the military (something that Roosevelt never
had to do), especially in the cases of Aceh, Irian Jaya and
Ambon, Indonesia needs much more than presidential jokes. We need
a strong display of leadership so that the military can be
disciplined. Gen. Wiranto is probably a very affable person, but
we must not forget that he is responsible for the mayhem in East
Timor last year as well as in Jakarta. The series of student
killings, which started in May 1998 and continued to November
1999, have not been resolved to this day. I think there is no
denying that the territorial integrity of the nation can only be
strengthened by changing the military structurally, and
permanently.

HIDAYAT JATI

Jakarta