Stop airing individual grudges

Stop airing individual grudges

From Rakyat Merdeka

Those who are against President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid want him to step down because they think this will be better for national unity and also because he appears to be capable of doing hardly anything to stop the bloody communal clashes in our country, the Sampit tragedy in Central Kalimantan being the latest example.

In retrospect, we find that in the 1999 presidential election held by the general assembly of the People's Consultative Assembly, Gus Dur was democratically elected thanks to the political tactics employed by the Axis Force, although he beat Mbak Megawati by a margin of only 50 votes.

Gus Dur has been the President of this country for over a year now and his leadership has been colored by a number of controversies. Some people can accept his ideas and some Muslim traditionalists even consider him close to being a wali, a pious Islamic leader in the mode of those who first spread Islam in Java. The noble K.H. Abdullah Faqih even said emotionally that an angel was perched on Gus Dur's shoulder. Others show their excessive support for him. For Gus Dur's supporters, his alleged involvement in two financial scandals is outright slander and they hold that "slander is more cruel than murder."

As a layman, I would like to call upon the members of the political elite now opposing Gus Dur, but who previously elevated him to the presidential office, to do something beneficial. If you find fault with Gus Dur's performance, channel your grudges through the legislature. Don't air your grudges individually. This call also goes out to university students, who are actually not the representatives of the people. The students' street rally on March 12 clearly showed that they were representing a particular elite group. I'm sure that Gus Dur's leadership is not to be blamed for the drop in the exchange rate of our rupiah.

ABU AMAR

Jakarta