The curse on the presidency

Referring to Bapak Soegih Arto's letter A curse on the presidency published on Nov. 4, 1999, I feel obliged to comment on the subject to make things clearer. Pak Soegih Arto stated that B.J. Habibie suffered also the curse because he made many mistakes due to his inexperience in state and political matters. As a politician he is a big zero.

I really support your statement, especially after reading the textbook for students all over Indonesia Manusia dan kebudayaan di Indonesia (Men and Culture in Indonesia). Kuntjaraningrat's theory says that the system of politics in Indonesia derives from two main cultures -- peasant culture and maritime culture. The peasant culture has the conception that a ruler must be a descendant of God. Therefore, temples must be built to bury the corpses of the rulers. If a ruler fail to perform well, it is certain he will be cursed.

On the other hand, the maritime culture bases its economic life on trade and sailing, and believe in rapid change. It is more open to science and technology development. If a ruler did something wrong, the law and the court should prove it. It seems Habibie made a mistake by identifying himself as being closer to the maritime culture rather than to the peasant culture that is still dominant in our political life.

Habibie's error started when he claimed to be a Bugis born in Parepare, South Sulawesi. He did not fit the requirement to be a president, from the view of peasant culture, because he did not have the wangsit (revelation), the prerequisite to become a president which was asserted by Prof. Selo Sumarjan one day. From then on, from far away, I observed that Habibie would never be able to do anything right.

Criticism flooded in the form of riots in Java and, primarily, in Jakarta, and through the mass media. Attacks were carried out either openly or through conspiracy. In a truly new Indonesian spirit, we ought to believe that the nation is really vulnerable while being built into a new and modern Indonesia. People outside Java feel it to be a great injustice.

What do we need to do to prevent turbulence in any presidential election? In my opinion, the best way to prevent riots, killings as well as other acts of violence and to maintain unity is to adopt the most modern state administration. We should follow the federal system as applied in America, Germany, Britain, Australia, Malaysia, and even Russia. The system of the past Mataram kingdom can be mentioned just as a part of our history. In the past we also had maritime kingdoms in the eastern part of Indonesia, such as Gowa, Buton and Tidore, etc., besides numerous kingdoms that existed in the western part of the archipelago.

NURDIN YATIM

Makassar, South Sulawesi