Moral Fit & Proper Test
Apr 20th, 2010, in News, by Patung
Plans to prevent known adulterers like Maria Eva from running for public office.
Gamawan Fauzi
Minister for the Interior, Gamawan Fauzi, has floated a proposal that known adulterers should not legally be allowed to contest elections in Indonesia, in response to the possible candidacies of two female celebrities with interesting pasts: Julia Perez, in Pacitan; and Maria Eva, in Sidoarjo.
The conditions set out for candidacy in the 2004 law are not sufficient. There needs to be added a prohibition on those who have committed adultery.
Gamawan Fauzi served as Governor of West Sumatra 2005-2009, and declared war on sin in the province and was awarded a sharia award by his party (picture), Partai Bulan Bintang (PBB) in 2006.
Maria Eva
Maria Eva, a dangdut singer most well known for her bedroom scenes with politician Yahya Zaini in 2006, says of Gamawan: tempo
He’s naive
All are sinners:
What kind of adultery? Adultery of the eyes? Of the body? Everyone has committed adultery.
MUI
Meanwhile Gamawan has won support from Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI) leader Amidhan, who says even advanced countries like the United States require public office holders to adhere to moral standards
In America it’s not just the president who is judged on his moral character, but even his wife.
And the Indonesian Constitution requires that detik
Leaders must be strong in faith and morals.
PKS
However the minister’s idea has met with a lukewarm reaction from Justice Party/Partai Keadilan Sejahtera (PKS) figure Mahfudz Siddiq, who says the current law is sufficient and that, if anything, an added stage could be added to the selection process when candidates could be questioned on moral issues, but that: inilah
“God forgives sinners”
25 Comments on “Moral Fit & Proper Test”
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deta says:
I wonder how the screening test is conducted, though.
Easy. Let them play “seven minutes in heaven” game, and see who has the highest resistance.
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realest says:
Anyone determined enough can dig up dirt on anyone else. Nobody gets to the top by being a saint.
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Wasn’t the first president of indonesia something of a ladies man? By these proposed rules would he have then been inelegible to be president? Could he be pothusmously impeached?
hehehe
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Giving an opportunity for sinners to lead a country means gambling with the future of the country. Eventhough the society are clever enough to choose the best, but we should never give such opportunity to those who are morally not qualified, not even once.
However, the leader would be the representative of the society.
I also wonder the way to perform that test. But we will “give” this country only for those who are morally qualified.
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Odinius says:
I think this is my favorite part:
Meanwhile Gamawan has won support from Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI) leader Amidhan, who says even advanced countries like the United States require public office holders to adhere to moral standards
“In America it’s not just the president who is judged on his moral character, but even his wife.”
Huh??
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Chris says:
Corruptors: Welcome!
Adulterers: Apparently not…In my humble opinion, the former is both more common and more damaging to the country.
Unfortunately, a moral fitness test for anti-corruption would probably disqualify too many members of parliament…
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Oigal says:
Laugh…. They never cease to amaze with their ability to make fools of themselves and by default the nation.
Funny it didn’t seem fit to comment on the report of thousands of children suffering from hunger in Kupung this week. The day one of those existing low lifes has the moral authority to comment on some elses life is the day the sky will turn purple.
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Hans says:
Ridiculous. The acting out of love is entitled, even if he does not get right. This is one of the things that are exactly equal and normal, with the rest of the world, look around the world, these women are actually often very talented and energetic, France, England, Sweden, talented girls who can actually think beyond what ther nose reaches, which not many can boast about in politics. They small love is like to be vaccinated against the great love.
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BrotherMouzone says:
@ Yori
I also wonder the way to perform that test. But we will “give” this country only for those who are morally qualified.
It’s fairly easy, just ask them to tell you whether they are morally qualified. I think politicians are normally pretty honest about that sort of thing.
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venna says:
The definition of a sinner is probably a little bit different here. A corruptor maybe is not really a sinner, or at least more easily to be forgiven. You see how they treated some corruptors that still freely move here and there even people know exactly what they did in the past.
Once someone told me that a person can’t be real Indonesian unless he/she masters the art of sogok/suap. It was stinging and I really disliked his tone. But that’s one real major problem that we have to face. The first time I deal with it when I got my first job that required me to gather some data from a specific department. I didn’t understand why the pak-kepala kantor kept talking and showed me some envelopes that he referred as “i don’t ask them, but they keep coming and give me these”, and always told me to comeback the next day coz the data was not available yet. Then coincidentally one of his staffs that recognized me told me that he had the data that I need and gave it to me instantly. And I realized that I didn’t grasp the hidden message from his boss that he expect me to give him “envelope”. -
Ross says:
Ya, Venna, that boss ought to be taken out and put up against a wall. His sort have held this nice country in servitude ever since independence.
As the old Scots judge once said, ‘he’ll be nane the waur fur a hingin…’ -
Thanks vena for the learning. I wouldn’t have understood it either. Your tip helps a lot.
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The Facebook comments on this post, clearly they’re just looking at the thumbnail of old Max Moein and his lady friend, and the blood starts to boil.
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Yes Venna: and always told me to come back the next day coz data were not available yet.
Yes it is, I usually get a passport and visa myself. A few years ago we stopped paying, and got to travel back and forth like a madman, changed tactics this year and sent one of our staff, it worked very very smoothly, and without a bribe. This is a very little things of what companies pay to the tax offices, so they should not exist. -
it worked very very smoothly, and without a bribe
Wanna bet?? What the boss don’t know won’t hurt him! Most Indonesians are embarrassed by what goes on, so they find ways to make the system work without the foreigner knowing (or think they do).
It would have been paid somehow, somewhere, sometime
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Personal approach works well in most cases. You know someone inside, be nice and polite to them, you will get help or get ‘discount’. But it depends on the cases too, sometimes we cannot do anything but paying the bribe. I myself use this tactic: pretending to be innocent, didn’t know what’s going on and asked them how was the procedure. Usually they were hesitant to tell me the amount of money, and said ‘whatever you like, mbak.’
And of course smiles a lot (innocently!), talk to them, visit them if possible, build good relationship. If all of those don’t work, then use someone else or just pay. -
Yeah, but why can’t thay be honest? Best to drag em out and finish them off!
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I was thinking of giving the task to the terrorists, Ross. They are the best moral guardian. I was wondering why they didn’t blow those corruptors first. And today I found the answer here: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gQ7lTMxbx5FI92tqFQP-9BJnHGaA
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And of course smiles a lot (innocently!), talk to them, visit them if possible, build good relationship. If all of those don’t work, then use someone else or just pay.
Just don’t forget to wash your hands once you leave their office. The sleaze tends to get in under your pores.
I often wonder if these creatures have any idea of the contempt they are held in.
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ET says:
I often wonder if these creatures have any idea of the contempt they are held in.
Contempt by who? I don’t have the feeling that they are held much in contempt by the locals, otherwise there would be lynchings by the dozens.
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Because clientalism is structurally embedded in Indonesian politics and social relations. As Oigal says, it doesn’t mean people like it. It’s just difficult to get anything done without gaming the system, and without the acquiescence of the bosses at the top of the pyramids.
You find this in most developing societies. It’s actually worse in some other places, for example in the Philippines…anyone read John Sidel’s book on “bossism?” Really quite interesting for comparison with Indonesia.
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I see in the 23/4 issue of the Globe that the anti-Jupe witch-hunt is being expanded to include folks who drink-
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‘Gamawan, speaking last week, said the exact details of the new requirements were still being worked through other than candidates “have enough experience in government or in civil organizations.” The minister, who has a strong religious background and a reputation as a clean politician, also reiterated that other requirements to be included in the revisions were that candidates could not be “drinkers, gamblers, drug users and adulterers.”
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So since only Muslims are forbidden to drink, while Christians and Hindus can, why not just restrict minority religions from participating in democracy?
And in the same newspaper, there was an interesting histtorical article about Ghandi, who is held in high regard by many Indonesians –
————————‘The sister of Gandhi’s secretary, Sushila Nayar, was one of the women who took part, as was his 18-year-old grandniece, Manu. In other cases, the wives of men in his ashram were called upon to share his bed, even though they were forbidden to sleep with their husbands, leading to complaints.’
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I reckon young Mr. Clean Gamawan would ban the dirty old mahatma from candidature too! -
capekdeh says:
Gives a whole new meaning to the ‘cicak’ vs ‘buaya’ metaphor, huh..
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shorty says:
lie, cheat, steal, murder, corrupt……it’s ok provided you keep your pants on.
question..does this proposal also extend to premarital fornication? someone single screws someone who’s married. only the latter has committed adultery.
Comment on “Moral Fit & Proper Test”.
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About moral standard, I think it is a good idea. Assuming that it’s not intended to ban the female controversial candidates, all candidates should pass the screening test and proven to be “free from adultery cases”. I wonder how the screening test is conducted, though. Will it be an interview (did or do you commit adultery, publicly or secretly? yes/no), or there will be a special institution (say, KPKP/Komisi Penyelidik Kasus Perzinahan) that investigate and openly report its findings to public so public will know exactly each candidate’s records and decide who’s the most acceptable one as their leader.