When certain circles nominated him for presidency, Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid responded: “I don't want to become president for free.” He certainly meant it. He declined his presidential candidacy for not being a partisan. He has never had constituents and has never joined election campaigns so far. Therefore, he has never spent the cost required to rise to the nation's top leadership post.

Ideally, as Nurcholish indicated, a nati