The riddle of Gus Dur

The riddle of Gus Dur

Abdurrahman Wahid, better known as Gus Dur, never stops presenting us with riddles on his political stance. Now he has revived the issue of the "axis force" (poros tengah), which was already on the wane as a subject of public discourse. In a discussion in Jakarta on Tuesday, Gus Dur loudly declared his acceptance of the axis force's bid to make him a candidate in the upcoming presidential elections. It was not so long ago that Gus Dur said his candidacy was proposed by (National Mandate Party chairman) Amien Rais without his knowledge. "Amien Rais is free to put me up for the presidency, but my own candidate is still Megawati," he said at the time.

We may shake our heads in disbelief or be stunned into silence, but we could just as easily say: "That's Gus Dur for you. His statements are often as fickle as the weather and difficult to rely on."

Gus Dur, apparently, is striving to break the ice after the respective bids of Habibie and Megawati for the presidency led to a rigid polarization of political allegiances. Aside from such a likelihood, it must be admitted that Gus Dur is a politician who is acceptable to many. Another point to remember is that our Constitution does not provide for the direct election of a president. What this implies is that anyone who meets the requirements for becoming the nation's president has a right to come forward and compete in the upcoming session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).

In any case, as long as the constitutional provisions for electing a president are not amended, the same tiring debate as the one we are going through at present will always return to plague us. This is all the more tiresome since our politicians are not trained to enter into dialog in the quest to find a compromise. And people like Gus Dur will always be present to present us with riddles.

-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta