Topple Gus Dur and tear Indonesia apart, or else...

Get rid of Gus Dur and plunge the country into chaos or retain him but save the country. To choose the lesser evil between the two has intrigued political observer Soedjati Djiwandono .

JAKARTA (JP): Since the election of Abdurrahman 'Gus Dur' Wahid as President, supposedly the most democratic the nation has ever had, violence has not subsided, if not even escalating; the nation is in greater danger of disintegrating, and thus national unity ever more remote; bickering among politicians have continued unabated, and so has the tug of war between the presidency and the legislature. For the common people, life is harder, more uncertain, more frustrating and frightening.

In the mean time, the President has continued to make one controversial statement after another, which would further confuse the people and intensify political bickering among the political elite. Does he then, under the circumstances, deserve continued support of the nation, especially in the light of incessant assaults on him by his political opponents in the legislative body, many of whom have elected him President?

It is increasingly clear that such assaults are directed at the President -- through such cases as the so-called Buloggate and Bruneigate, in which he is suspected of embezzlement -- with the single-minded aim of unseating him, as yet not even half-way his term of office. The basic choice, of course, is between letting the President continue to carry on until the end of his term or forcing him out of office.

Indeed, the President himself has publicly acknowledged that the people have lost confidence in his government. Yet, short of interference by Providence, which is beyond rational analysis, to expect him to resign at his own free will seems to be out of the question.

There is then only one possibility, namely, to force him out of office. One way would be to unseat him through impeachment by a special session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR). This, constitutionally, would take some lengthy process and need really compelling constitutional reasons. The other way, as has been aired by certain apparently unthinking and definitely frustrated individuals -- aren't we all -- would be through some kind of a "revolution", be it the form of "people's power" or the redundant formula of a "people's revolution."

That, however, would be a wrong lesson the nation learns from the experience of President Soeharto's fall in May 1998. One should not miss the irony of such an idea. After all, so much in contrast to Soeharto, Abdurrahman Wahid has been democratically elected, albeit, as I have mentioned on various occasions, by Indonesian standards, that is on the basis of a fundamentally defective Constitution of 1945.

Either way by which President Wahid is ousted of office, by impeachment or by "revolution", it would be disastrous for the nation. Far worse than social conflicts, a civil war -- heaven forbid -- would ensue that might well destroy Indonesia as a nation and a nation-state. Being an infant as a nation, a toddler experimenting and muddling through a long and tortuous process of democratization, Indonesians are yet to learn -- the hard way -- how to accept defeat, no matter how constitutional and democratic the process may be.

There is only one alternative left, not the best, but the lesser evil. Politics is often described as the art of the possible. This is it. We should let President Wahid carry on with the job to the end of his term.

For that he would need the support of all the people, the whole nation. Included in such a full support would be for all the people to maintain a critical yet constructive view and attitude, not in order to trip him up but to help him improve his performance and that of his entire government. This would be a very costly and risky exercise, but the future of this nation would be worth it.

The deep and prolonged multidimensional crisis of this nation is beyond the capability of any single government during a single term of office to overcome. The current government under President Wahid should be given its chance at least to prepare the ground and pave the way for further process towards genuine reform, supremacy of law, promotion of justice, democratization, all of which serve the foundation for the new Indonesia.

However, the further process should be left to the next governments (in the plural!) of the next decades. For President Wahid to strive for a second term would be sheer arrogance. For the people to entertain such an expectation would be total ignorance. On the part of both, it would be simply unrealistic, unreasonable, and insensible. Under a new president for the following five years after Wahid's term, the nation would need a fresh generation of better qualified politicians that should be groomed from right now.

Certainly, President Wahid has his own weaknesses and shortcomings. One may rightly argue that he is not the best in the ideal sense. But if he deserves our full support, it is primarily because he is at the moment the lesser evil in the long-term interest of the whole nation.

The rest of the top politicians of the day seem to be out of question by way of the top national leadership. Vice President Megawati seems to be of doubtful capability and uncertain capacity to learn. MPR Speaker Amien Rais does not prove credible and untrustworthy as many people thought he was. House speaker Akbar Tandjung, while probably the most seasoned politician, would rightly be seen -- especially by young and the poor -- as a comeback of the New Order, which includes the military. What could be worse than a moment, when a great nation of over two hundred million people cannot think of having an alternative leader?