Gus Dur's legitimacy<\/p>\n
Should Republican Texas Governor George W. Bush win the U.S.
\npresidential election, he will be in the same predicament that
\nIndonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has been in this past
\nyear. He will have a constitutional legitimacy, but not popular
\nlegitimacy, which went to Democrat Vice President Al Gore. If
\nIndonesia's experience is anything to go by, then that makes
\ngoverning a country next to impossible.<\/p>\n
It will be interesting to see how Bush manages the United
\nStates under these circumstances. We know that Indonesia, under
\nPresident Abdurrahman, is constantly running into turbulent
\nwaters often bordering on constitutional crisis.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman Wahid has never really enjoyed a popular
\nlegitimacy since he was elected in October 1999 to become
\nIndonesia's first democratically elected president. With his
\nNational Awakening Party (PKB) clinching 11 percent of the vote
\nin the June 1999 general election, he joined the presidential
\nrace at the last minute as a compromise candidate to break a
\ndeadlock.<\/p>\n
He defeated Megawati Soekarnoputri, who enjoyed far greater
\npopular support than he did because her Indonesian Democratic
\nParty of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) had won the general election.
\nHis election was really the result of a conspiracy by a number of
\nsmaller political parties, including election runner-up Golkar,
\nto deprive Megawati of her claim to the presidency.<\/p>\n
Thanks to the complex system of an indirect presidential
\nelection, which is just as complex as the archaic U.S. electoral
\ncollege, the nation ended up in a situation whereby the elected
\npresident only had 11 percent of the popular support nationwide.<\/p>\n
President Abdurrahman has had the constitutional legitimacy
\nbut never the popular support to govern Indonesia. What he did
\nhave in the initial months of his presidency was popular goodwill
\n-- which is not the same as popular support -- to allow him to
\ntake the helm. The popular goodwill was as good a mandate from
\nthe people as he could ask for under the circumstances. At least,
\nit was more than his two predecessors could claim. B.J. Habibie
\nand Soeharto (particularly in the last months of his rule) had
\nconstitutional legitimacy, but neither the popular support nor
\nthe popular goodwill to lead the nation.<\/p>\n
More than 12 months after his election, unfortunately,
\nPresident Abdurrahman Wahid seems to have lost a lot of that
\npopular goodwill. He is constantly bickering with the House of
\nRepresentatives and the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).
\nInstead of working to secure their support, which he needs given
\nhis precarious political position, he has confronted, provoked or
\neven challenged both the House and Assembly into a fight.<\/p>\n
Not surprisingly, he was censured by the Assembly at the
\nannual meeting to scrutinize his first 10 months in office in
\nAugust. But after promising to mend his ways before the Assembly
\nmeeting, he further alienated the major political parties,
\nincluding Vice President Megawati and her PDI Perjuangan, from
\nthe decision-making processes when he reshuffled the Cabinet.<\/p>\n
That virtually ensured Abdurrahman's fate in the House. The
\n"meeting of hearts" of more than 150 Assembly and House members
\nin Jakarta on the weekend showed just how little support he
\nenjoys. More and more of them are now calling for his
\nresignation.<\/p>\n
The President's failure to resolve many of the country's
\nproblems, from political unrest, regional discontent, slow-paced
\neconomic recovery, to his inability to uphold the law and uproot
\ncorruption, have also undermined whatever popular goodwill he
\nonce enjoyed. Even many of his friends who supported him because
\nof his commitment to democracy and humanity are beginning to keep
\ntheir distance from him.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman Wahid seems to have reached the twilight of his
\npresidency. Without any popular legitimacy to begin with, and
\nwith the people's goodwill becoming untenable, the only things he
\nstill has going for him are the constitutional legitimacy and the
\nlittle support he enjoys from his zealous supporters in PKB and
\nthe Nahdlatul Ulama Muslim organization.<\/p>\n
These may be sufficient to keep him in power until his formal
\nconstitutional mandate expires in 2004. But the political costs
\nfor the nation, which is entrenched in a perpetual crisis, may be
\njust too great to bear. With the Assembly unwilling and unable to
\nunseat the President, the ball is still very much in Abdurrahman
\nWahid's court.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/gus-durs-legitimacy-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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