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