Unselfish service to the country

Finally there is now a flicker of hope that the controversy involving the legislators and the President around the memorandum of censure will be resolved through a golden middle way.

A delegation of the Supreme Advisory Council (DPA) led by its chairman Ahmad Tirtosudiro, called on Feb. 8 on the President and Vice President respectively. The delegation presented a number of suggestions aimed at bringing an end to the nation's problems.

The most significant proposal, in my opinion, is the idea of the President delegating his full executive power to the Vice President for health reasons, thus turning the President into a figurehead with the title of head of state without executive power. The DPA leadership is of the opinion that this shift of executive power is less costly than holding a special session of the People's Consultative Assembly.

Fortunately the President has not rejected outright the DPA's advice; instead he requested that he be given more time to "think it over". However, personally, I believe that shifting to the position of head of state would be an honorable retreat, indicating fine statesmanship and highly-valued wisdom.

We should realize that it is imperative for a leader to serve the interests of the country and people and, thereby, leave behind a legacy of unselfish dedication as well as refined morality to be remembered and followed by the future generations.

GANDHI SUKARDI

Jakarta