The empty chair

The empty chair

My first involvement with an empty chair of historical value,
if I may say so, was more than forty years ago, when as a
journalist working for the national news agency Antara, I was a
guest of the British government in London.

I was assigned to the Indonesian House of Representatives
when democracy was then called "guided democracy" under the late
president Sukarno. Understandably, I wanted to study the British
system of democratic government and make comparisons. I took part
in a guided tour of Parliament or better known as the House of
Commons. Like the other visitors I listened to the guide's
explanations on the role of the opposition party which was
unknown in Indonesia.

The respectful guide naturally also stressed the important
role played by the Speaker of Parliament. Inside the House of
Commons we passed along the various benches on which members used
to have their seats "And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the chair
of the Speaker" the guide disclosed pointing to the empty leather
chair and everybody was silent as a sign of respect, either for
the chair or for the Speaker's responsibilities. When I saw the
empty chair I could not resist the temptation to try how it felt
to sit on the chair of the Speaker of the House of Commons,
though only less than one minute. Luckily there was no protest
from the crowd, when they saw it was me perching on the
respectable seat. Of course, the guide did not look too pleased
with my demonstration of impulsive democratic sentiment.

The second such experience that I wanted to have was to sit on
the empty chair reserved for the former strongman of this
republic, Soeharto, in the court especially outfitted in the
auditorium of the Ministry of Agriculture. It was and still is
not clear who owns the (almost) historic chair. But to the
disappointment of many people, and to my own grief, the expected
guest of honor has not yet sat on the chair. The defense reported
that Soeharto was too sick to appear before the court and a
number of reasons were produced and demonstrated by a team of
doctors.

The strongman has reportedly lost his speech and memory and,
according to the law, he is unfit to be tried by any court. The
chair will probably remain empty even as a team of new
"independent" doctors are preparing to look into the man's health
again. I think, I shall this time decline any offer even from
President Abdurrahman Wahid to sit in that chair, and for obvious
reasons.

GANDHI SUKARDI

Jakarta