THE past two weeks have been historic days for Hidayat Nurwahid. Through a dramatic process, he was voted Speaker of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) for the 2004-2009 period. Hidayat beat out his rival, Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Secretary-General, Sutjipto, by two votes.

More dramatically, he rejected two political traditions: simultaneously holding the chairmanship of his political party and that of the coun