Reading the President

Reading the President

Whatever the limitations of the office, there can be no
question that the President of the Republic of Indonesia is a
powerful man. He is not only the country's head of government,
but also its head of state. In addition, though he may be a
civilian, as supreme commander of the Indonesian armed forces he
has considerable say over the country's military, at least on
paper. Furthermore, the Constitution rules that though the
President cannot disband the national parliament at will, neither
can the national parliament discharge him except through an
extended and elaborate impeachment process.

Given all this, it is understandable that there is currently
much criticism of President Abdurrahman Wahid -- or, to be more
precise, of his unceremonious, easy-going style of governing --
in this time of crisis. His penchant for making seemingly
ambiguous statements about all kinds of issues, from the most
immaterial to the most serious, has of late particularly come
under fire. In a country that has only just been liberated from
over three decades of authoritarian rule and where timeworn
traditions are still cherished, many people obviously are finding
it difficult to adjust to having such a relaxed President at the
helm during these difficult times.

The latest example of this revolves around the former chief of
the military and current coordinating minister for political
affairs and security, Gen. Wiranto. As commander of the
Indonesian Military during the independence referendum in East
Timor last year, Wiranto has been implicated by the National
Commission on Human Rights in the wave of violence that swept
across the former Portuguese colony in the wake of the
overwhelming vote for independence in the territory.

Foreign human rights investigators in East Timor have accused
elements of the Indonesian police and Army of having had a direct
hand in the violence -- if not by actually planning and
organizing the rampage, then by covertly arming and supporting
pro-Indonesian militias in the former province.

With hundreds, possibly thousands, of East Timorese killed and
hundreds of thousands more forced to flee the devastated
territory, human rights activists in East Timor and elsewhere
abroad are demanding that Wiranto be tried by an international
tribunal.

Allegations of the Indonesian Military's direct involvement in
the violence must be proved or disproved in an independent court
of justice. But whatever the result, it is impossible for Gen.
Wiranto, as chief of the military during those crucial days, to
honorably escape responsibility for events in the territory, even
if his is merely a crime of omission -- failure to stop the
violence.

Under such circumstances, standing trial before an independent
Indonesian court of justice would obviously be the best option
for the former military chief. President Abdurrahman's call for
Wiranto to resign from the Cabinet, as the President has
explained, is meant to help the general avoid even greater
pressure at home and abroad.

Most Indonesians will surely agree with the President on this
point. What many of them find fault with is what they see as
Abdurrahman's haste in calling for the general's resignation
while overseas, apparently without first consulting the concerned
authorities at home -- Gen. Wiranto most in particular.

Neither is this the first time the President has made such a
critical call while abroad. Earlier, while visiting several Asian
nations, President Abdurrahman called on "three or four" of his
Cabinet ministers suspected of corruption to resign or be
replaced upon his return. Strengthening the public's impression
that the President lacked sufficient grounds to make such a call,
clear follow-up measures to substantiate his suspicions never
materialized.

Ever since his election as President of the republic in
October last year, Abdurrahman -- though unquestionably bright
and perceptive, and evidently loved and respected by many
ordinary Indonesians -- has shown a talent for stepping on
people's toes. Parliamentarians, political analysts and leaders
have called on the President to rein in his penchant for making
rash statements and bring a little more dignity to the office of
the presidency.

However, unless time proves us wrong, we believe Indonesians
would do best to get used to this peculiar style of leadership
which, after all, is and always has been uniquely Abdurrahman's.
If they can learn to read their President's statements for what
they are, Indonesians may find his style of leadership
refreshing, rather than unsettling. Indonesians, after all, need
to free themselves from the notion that the president is someone
remote and powerful, who must be feared and at all times obeyed.
At the very least, even in the brief time he has been in office,
Abdurrahman has succeeded in helping Indonesians shed much of
their excessive deference to power.