Election politics latest hitch for reforms<\/p>\n
Berni K. Moestafa and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post,
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
After four years of waiting for reforms that have never
\nmaterialized the reform movement has again bogged down, this time
\nby politics ahead of the 2004 general elections, analysts say.<\/p>\n
\"Politicians now just want to win the 2004 general election,\"
\nanalyst Kusnanto Anggoro told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.<\/p>\n
He said backdoor dealings and early campaigns had stalled
\nlegal reforms that began with the Trisakti tragedy in May 12,
\n1998.<\/p>\n
Four students of the Trisakti University were shot dead, which
\nprompted the downfall of Soeharto and initiated the reform era.<\/p>\n
\"Whatever one does, it stops with politics,\" Kusnanto said.<\/p>\n
Evidence of this, analysts said, was the ominous presence of
\nthe Golkar party and the military in politics.<\/p>\n
Both are remnants of the Soeharto regime. The reform movement
\ncrushed the regime in 1998, but their interests still remain
\nstrong four years later, said analyst Hermawan Sulistyo.<\/p>\n
Justice over the regime's corruption and human rights
\nviolations were traded for votes, he said.<\/p>\n
A key event illustrating the birth of reforms, and also its
\nfailure, was the 1998 shooting of the four Trisakti students.<\/p>\n
Four years later the perpetrators still remain at large.<\/p>\n
Many believe the students were shot to quash the reforms
\nmovement in an operation by pro status-quo military forces.<\/p>\n
Identifying them could help unravel similar unresolved cases
\ninvolving the missing reform activists now feared dead.<\/p>\n
But the House of Representatives refused to call the Trisakti
\nshooting a gross violation of human rights, lifting pressure on
\nthe government to investigate it.<\/p>\n
\"The old regime resurfaced and were spared the legal process
\nwith the consent of present politicians,\" Hermawan explained.<\/p>\n
In this light, the detention of House Speaker Akbar Tandjung
\nover graft allegations last March is seen as a ploy to pressure
\nthe Golkar party which Akbar chairs.<\/p>\n
Akbar, a seasoned minister under the Soeharto administration,
\nemerged as the Golkar chairman after the 1999 general election.<\/p>\n
Defying its ruined reputation in 1998, Golkar came second in
\nthe election. Akbar played a key role in the victory.<\/p>\n
Last year he pushed Megawati Soekarnoputri to the presidency,
\ndeserting former president Abdurrahman Wahid.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman had pressured Golkar with legal charges, and he
\nmeddled with internal reforms at the Indonesian Military (TNI).<\/p>\n
Now the legal proceedings against Akbar have convinced few as
\ngenuine law enforcement attempts given Megawati's political debt
\nto him.<\/p>\n
\"Too many political considerations (block) the legal process,\"
\nKusnanto said of the country's poor law enforcement.<\/p>\n
He added the coalition government also made it hard to reach a
\ndecision without requiring the support of other political
\nparties.<\/p>\n
The ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
\nPerjuangan) won the 1999 election narrowly against Golkar.<\/p>\n
Consequently, PDI Perjuangan relies on smaller political
\nparties to influence decision making against Golkar.<\/p>\n
Kusnanto said that considering the present political
\nconstellation the public would unlikely see substantial legal
\nreforms.<\/p>\n
Instead, reforms would progress slowly and in small steps.<\/p>\n
\"We have wasted four years on the reforms movement, and it
\nwill take longer,\" he said.<\/p>\n
But the underlying message of legal reforms is people power.<\/p>\n
Reformers demand the revision of the 1945 Constitution to
\nbetter segregate the powers of the government, and hence ensure
\nthe sovereignty of the people.<\/p>\n
An amendment process was then launched under a commission at
\nthe People's Consultative Assembly (MPR). Only the MPR can revise
\nthe constitution.<\/p>\n
But with a general election looming, reformers worry interest
\ngroups within the Assembly have hijacked the amendment process.<\/p>\n
The government dismissed calls for an independent commission,
\nwhile PDI Perjuangan questioned the validity of the amendment
\naltogether.<\/p>\n
According to lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis, politics is at work.<\/p>\n
\"The revision is deliberately being stalled, so that the 2004
\nelections will remain the same if new laws are not ready.\" Todung
\nsaid last month in an interview.<\/p>\n
Revising the election law to allow voters more control in the
\nprocess, demands changes to the constitution.<\/p>\n
He suspected PDI-Perjuangan disagreed with the process amid
\nfears it would weaken its chances of winning the 2004 election.<\/p>\n
\"We are seeing how power tends to corrupt,\" Todung said.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/election-politics-latest-hitch-for-reforms-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }