Sight, hearing required for future presidents
Sight, hearing required for future presidents
JAKARTA (JP): Doctors here have suggested that a complete
command of one's physical senses, which includes sight and
hearing, along with other developed mental functions, be a
mandatory requirement for future presidents.
During a discussion held by the Indonesian Doctors Association
(IDI) here on Monday, doctors stressed that the intact functions
of these senses were a crucial part of a person's reasoning and
cognitive process.
Neurologist Samino pointed out that a sightless person can
hardly make a credible decision as the brain tends to make a
person become more dependent on his or her imagination.
"A study found that hearing only contributes about 14 percent
to the thinking process. A human being's cognitive and thinking
processes depend more on the sense of sight," he said without
elaborating further.
The discussion was held as part of several brainstorming
sessions to gather input on the drafting of medical requirements
which are to be included in a presidential health bill expected
to be submitted to the House of Representatives within the next
three weeks.
Among the most debated topics was trying to define and
formulate from several medical aspects -- physical,
psychological, neurological and mental functions -- the minimum
health requirements needed by the state's top executive.
The head of the bill's drafting team, Cholid Badri, said the
introduction of such a law was needed as there was no regulation
specifying that a person occupying the highest office in the
country is medically required to be of sound mind and body.
Cholid said that the bill would also propose that future
presidents and vice presidents would be monitored by two medical
teams -- advising doctors and attending doctors -- who would
collaborate in assessing and monitoring their health.
Internist Mardi Santoso said that presidents and vice
presidents must not have a history of chronic illnesses, such as
high blood pressure combined with heart, kidney or brain
complications, any kind of cancer or HIV/AIDS.
"Such illnesses would damage the president/vice president's
performance, except if their illnesses were curable or could at
least be controlled," he said.
Psychiatrist G. Pandu Setiawan suggested that presidential and
vice presidential candidates first be subjected to an in-depth
interview with health practitioners in their respective fields to
find out whether they suffer from or are prone to a mental
disorder.
"Such interviews should also be made periodically due to the
stressful job they bear," he said, adding that the results would
also be made public.
During an earlier discussion, the chairman of the Association
of Indonesian Psychologists, Rahmat Ismail, also presented
similar requirements in a nine-point checklist of sound mental
health, such as the ability to communicate orally and in writing.
"This condition requires a certain level of physical health.
If the candidate suffers certain handicaps which make him or her
unable to communicate then it automatically lessens the
evaluation during the whole examination," he explained.
Broto Wasisto from the Ministry of Health, however, warned on
Monday that such criteria should not be rigidly applied and open
to wavering factors which may still allow a candidacy despite the
presence of certain handicaps or physical disabilities.(bby)