Asia Buzz: Where's Gus?

AN STYLE="font-size: 75%; color:#990000">Thursday, Mar. 1, 2001 | Borneo is in flames. Armed gangs of Dayak tribesmen are roaming villages, towns and cities attacking Madurese settlers. More than 460 are already dead. Scores have been beheaded. As the murder and pillaging rage out of control on the fourth largest island in the world, people the world over are asking one question: Where's Gus?

Gus is, of course, Gus Dur, a.k.a. Aburahman Wahid, President of Indonesia. His country is on the verge of a conflagration as violence ignited by ethnic conflicts sweeps across the archipelago from Aceh in the west to Irian Jaya in the east. With rumors of coups flying around Jakarta and the President's parliamentary opponents plotting his impeachment, political riots pitting Wahid's supporters against his detractors have been breaking out like brushfires in eastern Java.

To make matters worse, the World Bank recently warned that Indonesia's economy, seared by the 1997 Asian meltdown, is near collapse. Urgent action on the part of the government is needed to stave off disaster.

So, where's Gus?

As the Dayak tribesmen launched their storm of destruction, Wahid flew off on a state visit to several nations in the Middle East and North Africa, with a pilgrimage to Islam's holiest site, Mecca, thrown in. He ignored calls to cancel the trip as the violence in Borneo erupted, and has rejected pleas to return to Indonesia as the murders have mounted. Don't worry, the President assured his countrymen. Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri is a strong woman capable of handling the current crisis. It isn't necessary for the President to intervene.

Does this guy really want this job? Wahid was a compromise choice for President. Megawati's party won far more votes -- though not a majority -- in the general election and her supporters would love to see Wahid toppled and their woman take over. Gus Dur may in fact be trying to play a clever game by staying out of Indonesia and leaving the problems in Borneo and elsewhere for Megawati to sort out. He might be gambling that if she fails, her support will diminish. But while people are being murdered or forced to flee as their homes are looted and destroyed, that is a completely callous political game to play.

If that's not Wahid's game, then what is? Some might argue that by delegating authority to Megawati, he is weaning Indonesians off their dependence on one-man rule, a legacy of the half-century monopoly on power by dictators Sukarno and Suharto. But in times of crisis, which Indonesia is clearly in, strong hands-on leadership is needed, not shadow plays and puppet shows.

As Wahid flew off to the Middle East, a group of protesters gathered near the airport in Jakarta. Some held signs that read "Don't Bother Coming Back."

Where's Gus? Unless Wahid gets his act together and starts taking charge, pretty soon the answer will be: Who cares?