Abdurrahman Wahid, 59, is the father of Indonesia's democratic movement, a widely respected Muslim intellectual and the half-blind victim of two strokes.
Throughout his long career as leader of Indonesia's largest Muslim grouping, the 30-million strong Nahdlatul Ulama, Mr Wahid's voice has been one of moderation, pluralism and openness. In 1995, he opened the Forum Demokrasi to campaign for reform.
'What is now in fact required of us is that we are willing to work together to strive for freedom and the perfecting of a living democracy in our nation,' he said as early as August 1978.
'This struggle must begin with a willingness to build up a new morality in the life of our people, that is, a morality that feels involved in the suffering of the masses.' Unfortunately, alongside his moral integrity, Mr Wahid is also frail, patriarchal, capricious, short-tempered and vain, according to people who know him.
He has become known for volatile changes of mood and his impenetrability is not helped by a tendency to fall asleep, even mid-sentence, after a particularly tiring morning.
In an interview with the South China Morning Post last week, Mr Wahid, who is better known as Gus Dur, explained his plans.
'Alone, I cannot do anything, but together, I can do a lot,' he said, emphasising his impressive though often misunderstood ability to connect with people across the political, religious and ethnic divides of this country.