Ryaas Rasyid should not resign

Ryaas Rasyid should not resign

The resignation of a cabinet minister cannot, of course, be compared to that of a company executive. It is certain to have wide-ranging consequences, all the more so since a beginning has been made with the implementation of regional autonomy. Given such a reality, many people are hoping that (State Minister for Administrative Reform) Ryaas Rasyid will be willing to reconsider his decision (to resign from the cabinet) in the bigger national interest. For him to do so would not mean that he is being inconsistent. No one so far doubts his personal integrity.

If or when Ryaas chooses to stay on as State Minister for Administrative Reform, we naturally hope that he will be able to continue to be as professional as he has always shown himself to be thus far. That should be no problem for a man who is the embodiment of two different worlds at the same time -- the world of the bureaucrat and that of the academic.

-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta