Golkar's next steps<\/p>\n
On Saturday the government party, Golkar, elected Akbar
\nTandjung, who is President B. J. Habibie's powerful
\nminister\/state secretary, as its new chairman. He replaces
\nHarmoko, who led the party during the last five years when it
\nserved little purpose beyond being former president Soeharto's
\ngeneral election machinery.<\/p>\n
Recognizing that Golkar is still a powerful political force
\nwithin the legislature and the administration, the election
\nelevates Akbar, an experienced politician, into one of the
\nnation's foremost political figures. According to our political
\ntradition of the last three decades, he should become speaker of
\nboth the People's Consultative Assembly and the House of
\nRepresentatives.<\/p>\n
If Golkar can survive the looming political turmoil of the
\nnext 10 months it is not beyond the realms of possibility that
\nAkbar will be the next occupant of Habibie's seat. But this
\ndepends on whether Golkar was really reborn as a modern political
\nentity at the congress, cleaning itself of its hereditary sins
\nand making itself capable of attracting popular support.<\/p>\n
Last week's congress did not show that the party has prepared
\nitself to become a viable election winner. It failed to prove
\nthat it has completely shed its the old mentality. The
\nchairmanship election was indeed more democratic than the
\nprevious ones but the nature of politicking and exaggerated fuss
\nabout money politics showed that Golkar has not repented.<\/p>\n
It seems to have forgotten that it is still too early for the
\npeople to forget how the party -- which until yesterday only
\ncalled itself a functional group but in optima forma has been
\nnothing but a political entity -- was ruthless in turning all
\ndemocratic values upside down, and how widespread was its
\ntolerance of corruption, nepotism, and crony capitalism. Golkar's
\nmost fatal thoughtlessness was reelecting Soeharto in March.<\/p>\n
Although Golkar has never been an independent political
\ngrouping because no national policies have ever been decided at
\nits headquarters and everything depended on Soeharto, who pulled
\nthe strings from behind the screen, the people believe it has to
\ntake its share of the blame for the present calamitous national
\ncrisis.<\/p>\n
The organization has apparently looked down on the importance
\nof a healthy public image because it seems to believe that its
\nvery survival can be guaranteed at the General Session of the
\nPeople's Consultative Assembly, at the end of the year, which it
\ndominates. This way of thinking is reminiscent of the way Habibie
\nappointed his hand-picked members of the Assembly at the end of
\nJune to replace the old ones.<\/p>\n
The sorrowful message from this maneuver is that it will take
\nyears for the present government to implement total reform,
\nmeaning it will never do it.<\/p>\n
Such strategy sounds tactful. But Golkar has to remember that
\nnext year no sane person in this country will tolerate any rigged
\nelections -- as Soeharto's regime held since 1971. If Golkar
\nstill hopes to play the same game again it will be squashed by
\ntime.<\/p>\n
Akbar, who has promised to introduce change within the party,
\nwill surely find that the path to democracy is not as smooth as
\nhe imagined.<\/p>",
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