Indonesia Needs Honest Leader: Hasyim Muzadi

Kudus, C Java (Antara) - Former General Chairman of the Executive Board of Nahdatul Ulama (PBNU) KH Hasyim Muzadi said Indonesia needs a clean and honest leader. Nahdatul Ulama is the largest non political Islamic organization in this predominantly Muslim country. Hasyim said here on Wednesday that many countries have remained backward not because the leaders are not skilled enough but more because they lack honesty and sensitivity to the interest of the people. "A leader, however, must be a man of vision and is competent in running the nation. The people have been longing for such a leader after long struggling against poverty under leaders who care less about their suffering," he said. He said right now the country needs not only an honest leader but is also capable of enforcing the law and upholding justice. "Personally, I would vote for a candidate closest to those criteria, as no one is truly perfect that could fully meet the criteria," he added. He said the two pairs of presidential and vice presidential candidates have visited him to ask for his support in the presidential election on July 9. "Unfortunately I could give my support only to one of the two pairs that is Jusuf Kalla as the running mate of the presidential candidate Joko Widodo (Jokowi) in the election," he said. "As for the other pair presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto and his running mate Hatta Rajasa, I could only pray," he said. (*)