We need honest president

We need honest president

From Koran TEMPO

The general chairman of the central executive board of Muhammadiyah, Syafi'i Ma'arif, has said there are now presidential candidates from the military because civilian leaders have failed in leading this country. He said the emergence of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Gen. (ret.) Wiranto as presidential nominees should be critically responded to in order to prevent the return of an authoritarian government.

I agree with Syafi'i. The most important thing for us to do is to elect a leader that is honest, disciplined, courageous, non- collusive and non-politically-oriented. As a leader he must understand that our country has been left behind economically and socially and must have a clear forward-looking vision to untangle the messy situation in the country.

This leader must realize that our nation is still sick and that our people, from the top to the bottom, are suffering from a crisis.

As a leader, he must firmly and consistently enforce the law and raise the level of our dignity as a nation so that we will be seen as a respectable, cultured and disciplined country. Only in this way can we promote our economy to achieve prosperity.

Hopefully, all our presidential aspirants will find time to reflect on what they can do for this country and will refrain from participating in the presidential race because of a power motive or an emotional drive to "save the nation". Remember, our nation is too important for such vanities.

RURUS SURYAWAN Kamakura, Japan