Time to step down

Time to step down

In most democracies, when a government minister is implicated
in any type of misconduct, even a relatively minor financial or
sexual scandal, he usually tenders his resignation without delay.
In many cases, he does not even wait to be asked to do so by his
president or prime minister.

But, in Indonesia, former military leader General Wiranto
still seems to believe he can follow different rules from much of
the rest of the world.

General Wiranto may hope his stalling tactics win him immunity
from prosecution in return for eventually agreeing to step down.
But even here he is likely to be disappointed, as President Wahid
has already said it would be best to have the charges against him
judged in an independent court.

That need not rule out the possibility of a presidential
pardon at some later stage. Different countries have chosen to
handle the transition from authoritarian rule to democracy in
different ways.

In Chile, the military demanded an amnesty before
relinquishing power. But the limits to this were shown recently,
when former dictator General Augusto Pinochet was detained in
Britain over crimes allegedly committed under his rule.

In South Africa, a truth and reconciliation commission tried
to clear the record over events of the apartheid era by offering
an amnesty to those who confessed to politically related crimes.
That is a model some now advocate for Indonesia.

But whatever happens, there can be no question someone
implicated in last August's events can remain a minister. The
bloodshed in East Timor was a stain on Indonesia's reputation and
one which will remain at least until those responsible are
removed from office.

-- The South China Morning Post, Hong Kong