The central axis

The recent emergence of the "central axis" is in fact only a formality of an existing political reality in Indonesia.

If somebody thinks that the axis can disrupt the closeness between Gus Dur and Megawati, another may think that it can rupture the proximity between Hamzah Haz and President Habibie.

As an optimistic Muslim I can be proud that whoever will be president he/she is a Muslim, be they Gus Dur, Habibie, Hamzah Haz, Amien Rais or Megawati.

It is said that Megawati's full name is Diyah Permata Megawati Soekarnoputri. "Diyah" comes from Muhammadiyah. Indonesia's first president Soekarno was a loyal follower of the Muhammadiyah movement. His first son was named Muhammad Guntur Soekarnoputra. "Muhammad" was also taken from Muhammadiyah.

If we think in a pessimistic way, the Indonesian nation, especially Muslims, have been organized into three different groupings; the political reality of which engenders suspicion between them. These groups are the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) group, the Golkar (functional) group and the Muslim group.

The Golkar group sees the PDI and Muslim groups as respectively belonging to the extreme left and the extreme right. On the other hand, the PDI group considers the Golkar and Muslim groups as respectively bourgeois and fundamentalist. While the Muslim group is of the opinion that the PDI and Golkar groups represent respectively the embryo of communism and militarism. The first led to the fall of heroes of the revolution and the second resulted in the demise of the reform heroes.

All of this can be resolved if we want to see the problems from the perspective of national unity. The three groups are Indonesian products. There is a moral obligation for each group to safeguard unity. They must be oriented toward the people's interests.

It does not mean that all the groups must sit in one Cabinet, or join forces as the opposition. Some become executives and others form an opposition as supervisors, as is the case in other democratic countries in the world. The question is, if they are able to do it, why aren't we?

IFRAD SUKANTO

Jakarta