Indonesia awaits its future<\/p>\n
By Patrick Schwarz<\/p>\n
This is the first of two articles exploring the stake of
\nIndonesian people in the days to come.<\/p>\n
SEMARANG (JP): Many foreign executives, diplomats and
\neducators that faced a posting to Indonesia over the last few
\nyears were handed a book by their organizations that served as a
\npolitical introduction to their future host country.<\/p>\n
The book is titled Nation In Waiting and was brilliantly
\nwritten by a former Indonesia correspondent for the Far Eastern
\nEconomic Review, Adam Schwarz (no relation to this writer).<\/p>\n
The book was banned in Indonesia for being too critical of
\nthen strongman Soeharto. The writer was expelled from Indonesia.
\nConsequently, and certainly to many reader's regret, the book's
\ndepiction of Indonesia's state of affairs ends in 1994.<\/p>\n
Nation In Waiting describes Indonesia's more recent history
\nand takes the reader from her humble beginnings since
\nindependence from the Dutch colonial rulers and its first
\nconstitution, through the era of nation building under its first
\npresident, Sukarno, the amendments of the constitution that
\nfollowed, and into the new order regime of the former dictator,
\nSoeharto.<\/p>\n
It provides a thoroughly researched analysis of the
\nstrongman's build up and hold of tremendous power. It describes
\nhow ordinary Indonesians, the economic elite (cronies) close to
\nthe strongman, foreign investors and the Indonesian economy fared
\nunder such power. A power that was so enormous, there is no
\ncomparison to it in modern history. It makes the Marcos's of the
\nPhilippines, the Chiang's of Nationalist China and the Park's of
\nSouth Korea -- to name but a few -- appear like pussy cats.<\/p>\n
If Adam Schwarz were still in Indonesia today, the past 12
\nmonths would have provided him with enough material for an entire
\nfollow up book. Starting with the May riots of precisely one year
\nago, it has been a very moving period, full of ironic, violent
\nand sad events, that made local and international news. And that
\nare pure history in the making.<\/p>\n
Nation In Waiting could not be a more appropriate descriptive
\nterm for what Indonesia is going through at this very moment; for
\nthe days leading to the June 7 elections will culminate the
\nevent-filled past 12 months. These will be followed by
\npresidential elections at some later date as to who will lead
\nthis nation into the new millennium. Note the term \"lead\". In a
\nmulti-party democracy, a president leads. The law rules.<\/p>\n
The elections will determine whether history will repeat
\nitself. Whether powers that were and should finally become
\nhistory will succeed in their endeavors to cling on, or the
\nnation that has been waiting ever since its foundation will
\nfinally succeed in taking the giant leap into a full democracy.<\/p>\n
At the present stage of this countdown to election day, it
\nappears that two major powers have now emerged:<\/p>\n
On the side of the \"old-powers-that-were\" is the naughty
\nruling Golkar which has announced that the current President,
\nB.J. Habibie, who stepped into Soeharto's shoes 12 months ago,
\nwill be it's sole candidate. Other names, some of which were
\nassociated with the KKN (Indonesian idiom for collusion,
\ncorruption and nepotism) methods of the Soeharto era in the
\npublic's mind, have been taken off the list. Well into the
\ncountdown toward the elections, Golkar has started pulling lots
\nof registers from money politics, to outright politics of terror
\nthat includes wanton killings at voter registration meetings.
\nEven an unbiased, unsensationalized publication like Newsweek
\nnames this \"murdering, maiming and bullying for votes\".<\/p>\n
On the opposing side are the \"democratic reformist-humanists\"
\nconsisting of three major parties: the Indonesian Democratic
\nParty (PDI Perjuangan) who nominated Megawati Soekarnoputri as
\ntheir candidate; the National Mandate Party (PAN) who nominated
\nDr. Amien Rais and the National Awakening Party (PKB) with the
\nleader of Nahdlatul Ulama -- Indonesia's largest religious
\ngrouping -- Abdurrahman Wahid, popularly known as Gus Dur. Each
\none of them is a seriously viable presidential contender in his
\nor her own right.<\/p>\n
Megawati, a daughter of Indonesia's first president Sukarno,
\nis embedded in the public's mind with the color red and the logo
\nof a fierce looking black bull over it. She has the furious, the
\nyoung and the restless behind her.<\/p>\n
In addition, she has funding from the mostly rich Chinese-
\nIndonesian community. As a result, she sports the largest and
\nmost numerous flags flickering all over Java and Bali, where most
\nof the votes will come from. And she boasts the most noisy vote-
\ngathering rallies where the masses' idea of making oneself heard
\nis to rev up unmuffled motorcycles and blast thousands of
\nthousands of watts of dangdut music. This, and the fact that she
\nis the only female contender, makes her a potential front-runner.<\/p>\n
With a far more subdued pale-blue-on-white party color, Amien
\nRais comes across as the educated, sophisticated intellectual
\nwith the most pronounced (if not only) clear political agenda.
\nThe former leader of the second largest Muslim grouping called
\nthe Muhammadiah, Amien is the favorite of the educated elite. And
\nhe certainly strikes a chord in the international arena.
\nWhether it is at an unofficial showing at the world economic
\nforum at Davos, Switzerland, or during an impromptu visit to Hong
\nKong, or in an interview with CNN's Riz Khan during the haj
\npilgrimage at Mecca, he most definitely comes through as truly
\npresidential material.<\/p>\n
Gus Dur has the backing of Indonesia's largest Islamic
\nreligious organization, the Nahdlatul Ulama, which he has chaired
\nfor a long time and counts over 30 million members. Gus Dur is a
\ntremendously popular figure. He has made a mark for tolerance not
\nonly in religious circles, but in society as a whole. A deeply
\nreligious Muslim, he nevertheless came through as a staunch
\ndefender of Christian minorities, and told his own Muslim flock
\nto keep religion out of politics. He has brokered peace on
\ninnumerable occasions of religious unrest in many parts of the
\ncountry. He was at odds with the former dictator Soeharto until
\nbefore the latter's downfall, when the two made lukewarm amends.
\nSoeharto, once so often, needed the backing of the Islamic flank.
\nGus Dur is a presidential contender against his personal wish.
\nBut he will back the idea. He has just returned from the United
\nStates where he underwent eye surgery that gave him a
\nsubstantially more vigorous appearance.<\/p>\n
These three powerful contenders announced on May 18 that they
\nwill unite to face the mighty, naughty Golkar. This, following
\nelectoral logic, narrows down the political battlefield to these
\ntwo opponents: The \"old-powers-that-were\" versus the \"democratic
\nreformist-humanists\". It will be a close call. While the latter
\nhas the backing of every righteous, free thinking Indonesian, the
\nformer (Golkar) might still make all the difference with the 38
\nunelected votes that are constitutionally allocated to the
\nIndonesian Military (TNI).<\/p>\n
The writer is managing director of ANP Corporation, Semarang.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesia-awaits-its-future-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }