RESPONDING to the negative reaction to his election as Golkar Party Chairman at its seventh national convention three weeks ago, Jusuf Kalla said that being the nation's vice president and simultaneously the party chairman is nothing new in Indonesia. On that point, Kalla is right. This happened when Sudharmono, Megawati Sukarnoputri, and Hamzah Haz became vice presidents.

The difference is when we recall the "political promise" of