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