On the president

On the president

From Kompas

Recently there have been articles and political comments about
whether the president should be a Javanese or non-Javanese. And
Jusuf Kalla said some time ago that we should no longer have the
perception that the Indonesian president must be Javanese.

My comment is that, in our country's history, out of the five
presidents that the nation has had so far, only Soeharto was pure
Javanese. Let us consider them one by one.

Sukarno was not Javanese because he was of mixed parentage --
his father was Javanese and his mother a Balinese.

While Soeharto is a real Javanese, and his Javanese dialect is
quite clear and his style of governing was very much Javanese.

BJ Habibie had a Javanese mother and was born in Sulawesi.

Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid once said that he had Chinese
ancestors. Moreover, it has been said that he was related to
Prophet Mohammad.

And how about Megawati Soekarnoputri? She is the granddaughter
of a Javanese-Balinese family and her mother was from Bengkulu
province. So, she is definitely not Javanese.

In conclusion, any Indonesian from any region can become
president provided he or she is competent and is acceptable to
all of society, from Sabang to Merauke.

SUBARTONO
Bogor, West Java