President should be a statesman

President should be a statesman

From Bisnis Indonesia

The time has come for the people to elect a non-partisan president. In this way, the nation's best leader will not be trapped by small-minded party politics, but instead will truly put national economic recovery to the fore.

At present, we have a number of figures with experience, in economic and political terms, who could run the nation.

There are Nurcholis Majid, Bambang Yudhoyono, Siswono Yudo Husodo and Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, to mention a few. To date, they have even continued to demonstrate their performance and devotion in the interest of national dignity.

Haven't political parties ever thought of slightly shifting their sectoral egoism by avoiding any insistence on designating their top figures or even general chairmen as presidential candidates?

Why don't they cool-headedly and rationally elect the nation's best son through a serious recruitment process as well as an evaluation of past performance?

In this context, the statement by KH Zainuddin MZ, general chairman of the United Development Party of Reformation in Bogor, when he said that the president, executive and legislative personnel should be the best citizens available, and not necessarily party leaders, deserves praise.

HANS SUTA WIDHYA

Forum for National Concern

Jakarta