Elite row shows political immaturity<\/p>\n
By Setiono<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): We all recall the close ties between Abdurrahman
\nWahid and reformist Amien Rais before they were elected to top
\npositions of the country. Both expressed deep concern over the
\nchaotic political situation at that time, and vowed to walk hand
\nin hand to create a new Indonesia (Indonesia Baru) if the people
\nentrusted them to lead the country.<\/p>\n
They also extended their willingness to collaborate to solve
\nthe myriad of problems the country was facing and to promote
\ndemocracy. They talked about upholding justice, enforcing the
\nlaw, as well as eradicating corruption, collision and nepotism,
\nwhich were rampant during the authoritarian and repressive New
\nOrder regime.<\/p>\n
However, when their dreams came true, things seemingly did not
\nturn out as people expected. The legacies that the New Order had
\nleft behind still flourish, injustices still prevail everywhere,
\nand, if anything, the crisis has multiplied, leaving the common
\npeople to face uncertainty and a bleak future. The worst is that
\nour country is facing a threat of national disintegration.<\/p>\n
Ironically, when the nation is faced with multidimensional
\ncrises, the political elites, whom the people have put their
\nhopes on, are busy bickering and finding fault with each other.<\/p>\n
The Axis Force (a loose coalition between the National Mandate
\nParty and a number of small Islamic parties), that played a key
\nrole in putting Abdurrahman Wahid (also known as Gus Dur) into
\nthe presidential post, has expressed its regret in appointing the
\nPresident and has, in fact, withdrawn its support.<\/p>\n
Upon evaluating that the President has failed in his tasks to
\ncarry out the mandate assigned by the People's Consultative
\nAssembly and the House of Representatives, the members of the
\nAxis Force have called on him to step down.<\/p>\n
Gus Dur's rejection of the two nominated chief justices
\nproposed by the legislature ignited further conflict with the
\nHouse. The House accuses the President of violating the
\nConstitution if the latter turns down the former's proposal.
\nFurthermore, Gus Dur's refusal not to fulfill the summoning of
\nthe House's special committee on Buloggate and Bruneigate has
\nindeed worsened the relationship between the two.<\/p>\n
The seemingly never-ending disputes among the political elites
\nhave shown us a great deal, that in politics there are no
\npermanent friends, there are no permanent enemies, but there is
\nonly one permanent interest.<\/p>\n
Gus Dur's government is indeed facing many destructive
\nchallenges from his political foes, who ambitiously try to topple
\nhis regime. Gus Dur even blatantly spoke out that those in the
\nlegislature are among the ones who eagerly try to unseat him from
\nhis presidency.<\/p>\n
Gus Dur seems to have sensed the political maneuvers planned
\nby his political opponents. He is also probably aware of the fact
\nthat there seems to be a high-class conspiracy among the House
\ncommission to revive the practice of the old regime system.<\/p>\n
The House's attempt to position Gus Dur in a dilemmatic
\nsituation to endorse one of the two chief justice nominees
\n(either Muladi or Bagir Manan), both of whom are believed to be
\nloyalist of the New Order, is clearly a maneuver to corner him.<\/p>\n
The commission's refusal to hold another selection process for
\nnew candidates, and its threat to reject every proposal made by
\nthe President, shows political arrogance. Gus Dur's rejection of
\nthe two chief justice candidates from Golkar is naturally not
\nunreasonable.<\/p>\n
The temporal vacuum of the Supreme Court is deemed by many as
\nthe best option rather than being led by an unsuitable person.
\nLearning from past and present experiences where injustice still
\nprevails and law enforcement authorities lack the courage to take
\nlegal action, Gus Dur is on the right track when he cautiously
\nmulls the appointment of a chief justice from nominations made by
\nGolkar.<\/p>\n
Numerous cases of human rights violations inherited from the
\nNew Order such as the massacre of Muslim radicals in Tanjung
\nPriok in 1984, the bloody takeover of the PDI headquarters in
\n1996 and the killing of Marsinah (an East Java worker), just to
\nmention a few, seem to have become matters of complete
\nindifference by the law authorities.<\/p>\n
While these cases remain unresolved and are not successfully
\nbrought to trial, other human rights violations are added. The
\nbloody bombings on Christmas Eve that claimed many lives and the
\nattacks of places of entertainments in Kemang, South Jakarta,
\nindicate a lawlessness in the country.<\/p>\n
Moreover, the Supreme Court's inability to put former
\npresident Soeharto's youngest son, Tommy Soeharto (who has been
\ndeclared a fugitive), in jail has continuously made newspaper
\nheadlines. This has tarnished the image of the Supreme Court and
\nhas caused Indonesia's judiciary system to lose credibility in
\nthe eyes of the public, not to mention the world.<\/p>\n
Interestingly, none of these cases has attracted and urged the
\nlegislature to establish another House commission to deal with
\nthese crucial matters. Instead, they are engrossed in probing the
\nincumbent President's scandals and harshly criticizing and even
\ncondemning the President's performance. However, there are ample
\ncrucial matters that escape their attention.<\/p>\n
If the legislature managed to establish a special commission
\nfor Buloggate or Bruneigate, then the question would be why is
\nthere no similar legal action taken to form a Bombinggate, a
\nSoehartogate, a Tanjung Priokgate, or whatever \"gate\", for the
\nconsidered lawless?.<\/p>\n
At this point, it is relevant to cite George J. Aditjondro's
\nassertion that \"the allegations aimed at Gus Dur's inner circle
\nare only political football, since those who accused the
\nPresident of corruption, collusion and nepotism are themselves
\ncovering up corruption, collusion and nepotism in their own
\nranks.\" (The Jakarta Post, Jan. 10, 2001).<\/p>\n
The persistent and never-ending disputes among the political
\nelites reflect the immaturity in running politics. The euphoria
\nof the country's democracy has been fallaciously misinterpreted
\nby those who are naive and immature in practicing politics.<\/p>\n
To them, democracy is simply seen as a method rather than a
\nvalue. The term democracy has been notoriously perceived as a
\nmeans of freedom in expressing one's own interests. Thus, the
\nmass mobilization by Gus Dur supporters and opponents that was
\nrumored to happen on Jan. 15 in Jakarta was actually the result
\nof the naive interpretation of democracy.<\/p>\n
In a critical period of political uncertainty, where social
\nunrest and conflicts with religious overtones become rampant,
\nfollowed by the unabating conflict of political elites, the role
\nof impartial intellectuals in providing mature political
\neducation to the public, specifically at grassroots level, is
\nimperative.<\/p>\n
Since democracy is an on-going process of learning that
\ninvolves the exercising of morality, political education is not
\nthe sole concern of the political leaders or politicians. It has
\nbeen suggested that political education should not been assigned
\nas a structural and a bureaucratic task, which does not have any
\nconcerns toward the importance of the society's political
\neducation.<\/p>\n
Proportionally, political education is an intellectual and
\nnoble task and can only be executed by intellectuals who are free
\nfrom political interests. Mature political education aims at
\nproviding rational and intellectual perspectives closely related
\nwith human's attitude in their life.<\/p>\n
An intellectual may, for example, encourage the public, the
\npolitical leaders or even the nation's top leaders to seek
\nsolutions by sitting down together rather than by mobilizing
\ntheir supporters.<\/p>\n
It is now high time to set an agenda for society's political
\neducation. In this case, the press may also take part in
\npromoting and campaigning the importance of political education
\nin our politically sick society. In so doing, the political
\nilliteracies that our nation is suffering can be remedied.<\/p>\n
The writer is a teaching staff member of the School of
\nEducation, Atma Jaya Catholic University, Jakarta.<\/p>",
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