Monday, April 2, 2007

Bachelor Degree for President

There's a hot issue regarding Indonesian presidency right now. There's a suggestion that the next Indonesian president must hold a bachelor degree. The reason for this suggestion is to increase the quality of the president.
Strong debates are easy to find regarding this issue. Some say that it's just a political movement to prevent Megawati Soekarnoputri going into the election because she never, indeed, finished her bachelor degree. Well, i don't know if it's a political movement or not because I can never understand politic.
Something I'm sure of is that there's no guarantee that someone who holds bachelor degree has the required ability or competency to become a leader. I believe that no Indonesian student ever received any lecture about how to be a leader. I also believe that leadership is something to learn, not to study.
History showed that Indonesia had bachelor degree holders president such as Soekarno, and Habibie. But we have to remember that Soekarno gained his leadership quality through his political activity, not his study at school. Habibie? Altough a genius, I don't think that he is a good leader. He's more suitable to become a technocrate instead of a birocrate. Soeharto gained his leadership quality from the military academy (he's a general, remember?) while Megawati and Gus Dur gained their leadership quality through their political activity as political party leader.
So, i still believe that leadership is something to learn, not study. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to become a good leader.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

either we try or we leave it behind, God will send The Last President. The one who leads us within our heart. One nation under God....