Adi Sasono's party vows to smash 'monopoly of information'<\/p>\n
Frans Surdiasis, Research and Development Unit, The Jakarta
\nPost, Jakarta<\/p>\n
This is the 15th article in a series on the 24 political
\nparties contesting the 2004 elections.<\/p>\n
Adi Sasono is way past his days of being a young activist and
\nminister; and in the 1999 elections, when he still wielded some
\ninfluence, his earlier party which once alleged of corruption,
\ndid not even pass the electoral threshold. So why is he back?<\/p>\n
At 61, his passion to put his ideas into practice is still
\napparent; he said recently that joining politics was the only way
\none could influence public policy.<\/p>\n
Long before he co-founded the Association of Indonesian Muslim
\nIntellectuals (ICMI) with former president BJ Habibie, in the
\n1980s Adi was known for his book on the local version of the then
\npopular \"dependency theory\" in political economy, co-written with
\neconomist Sritua Arief.<\/p>\n
His appointment as minister of cooperatives and small
\nenterprises in Habibie's Cabinet was seen as consistent with his
\nlong involvement in developing small-scale entrepreneurs. Among
\nthe awards he received in his activist days was the prestigious
\nAga Khan award, for planning a new market in Samarinda, East
\nKalimantan, that accommodated small traders and which became
\npopular among locals and visitors.<\/p>\n
In this aspect his orientation may have not changed much as he
\nnow campaigns his concept of a people's economy through his new
\nparty, the Freedom Party. The party's booklet still describes the
\ntheme of his aforementioned 1981 book -- the alliances among the
\nlocal elite and political and economic interests, alliances
\nperceived to be mainly responsible for a country that remains
\ndependent and largely poor.<\/p>\n
The reference list for cadres in the party booklet include
\nsimilar material written in the 1970s and early 1980s, which he
\nhas not bothered to update amid today's debate on globalization,
\nthough now Adi says he is \"pro-market\".<\/p>\n
In the new party, Adi still touts many of his fellow alumni of
\nthe Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) where he was once
\nsenate chairman, although a few others have set up other new
\nparties.<\/p>\n
Adi denies being anticonglomerate, the image of him drawn not
\nonly from his championing of a people's economy but also because
\nhe was an ICMI founder and executive. He was also ICMI chairman
\nfrom 2000 to 2005, but he resigned to set up the party. And a few
\nyears before the war on terrorism he was considered dangerous,
\nparticularly among non-Muslims and the outside world, as he
\nadvocated a bigger role for Muslims in the country, politically
\nand economically, given their suppression under the New Order
\nregime.<\/p>\n
He made his position clear during a recent visit to The
\nJakarta Post by saying: \"I'm anti-crony and pro-market. I'm not a
\nMuslim extremist nor anti-Chinese.\" The party has Non-Muslims,
\nsuch as those in East Nusa Tenggara, as constituents, he adds.<\/p>\n
According to his biography, he is a grandson of Mohammad Roem,
\nwho was a well-known, trustworthy politician, and his parents
\n\"were pioneers in the movement of reducing segregation between
\nindigenous and non-indigenous people\" in the batik producing and
\ntrading town of Pekalongan, Central Java.<\/p>\n
With his young supporters from the ITB, Adi promotes an
\nupdated version of the people's economy -- now the party calls it
\na \"digital economy\", popularizing the use of the Internet to
\nshatter the \"monopoly of information\" held by those who
\nmanipulate people with no access to crucial know-how.<\/p>\n
A network of \"wired\" people supporting small business, the
\nparty's booklet says, would enable sellers of raw material, for
\ninstance, \"to offer their products directly to buyers\".<\/p>\n
Lack of information on markets has long been identified by
\nexperts as a major constraint to the country's small-scale
\nentrepreneurs, besides lack of capital. During the crisis they
\nwere hailed as the backbone of the economy. Hence the party's
\nmission includes encouraging a market driven economy based on
\nprinciples of justice.<\/p>\n
The party claims it still retains its nationwide network of
\ncooperatives that will hopefully remain loyal. It would also look
\nto the vast estimate of some 40 percent of swing voters among the
\ncountry's 145 million eligible voters in the next elections,
\nwhich all parties are eyeing.<\/p>\n
But just as before, Adi's new party faces the challenge of
\nmarketing ideas in a landscape in which people are either fed up
\nwith politicians or who prefer parties that offer more familiar
\nidentification.<\/p>\n
Then again, Adi might not be that serious -- considering that
\nhe says his participation in the elections is to make it all the
\nmore merrier.<\/p>",
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