Indonesia's 'three musketeers' face the nation's problems<\/p>\n
By Mochtar Buchori<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Three names have come under limelight lately:
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri, Sri Bintang Pamungkas and Judge Adi
\nAndojo Soetjipto. The three of them have become the focus of a
\nmultitude of informal public discussions.<\/p>\n
In the public eye they are exalted as extraordinarily
\ncourageous characters, perceived as persons who refuse to panic
\nin the face of intimidation, refuse to budge in the face of brute
\npower, and refuse to kneel down in the face of overpowering
\nmight.<\/p>\n
Outwardly, each of these three personalities are fighting for
\na separate cause. Megawati is fighting for her existence as a
\nparty leader, Sri Bintang Pamungkas for his innocence, and Adi
\nAndojo for his integrity.<\/p>\n
Viewed within the context of Indonesia's society today,
\nhowever, it is difficult not to assume that they are fighting for
\na common cause, namely fighting against what they perceive as
\nunjust and willfully wrong execution of power.<\/p>\n
For reasons unknown to me, it seems that their perception of
\njustice and injustice conforms to that of the public's. As such,
\nit is perceived that they are fighting for a public cause.<\/p>\n
How is it that these three names remain popular with the
\npublic, despite the fact that they have been clearly rejected and
\nmore or less condemned by high-ranking government officials?<\/p>\n
This question is particularly important with regard to Judge
\nAdi Andojo who is not a politician and who has never done
\nanything in his life to enhance his popularity.<\/p>\n
Can it be that at the moment the public and the corps of high-
\nranking government officials are at two opposing sides with
\nregard to concepts about justice, decency and honor? Can it be
\nthat in their consciences they are alienated from one another?<\/p>\n
I have no answer to this question. And I doubt I will ever
\nfind an answer to it. But I think that part of the explanation
\ncan be found in the following:<\/p>\n
For quite some time there has been a growing gap between the
\npublic and the officialdom with regard to the concept of justice,
\ndecency and honor.<\/p>\n
It has been demonstrated in many cases that the definition of
\njustice, decency and honor adopted by government officials
\ndiffers significantly from that adopted by the public.<\/p>\n
The public has, of course, never formulated and expressed its
\nconcept of justice, decency and honor in an articulate way. But
\nobjections over court rulings expressed by the public in a number
\nof cases, or disagreements with opinions about honorable and
\ndecent acts in public life expressed by government officials
\nconstitute undeniable evidence that the public has its own
\ncriteria regarding these three concepts.<\/p>\n
I think that every government has the moral obligation to
\ncomprehend and be sensitive to the sense of justice, honor and
\ndecency that exists at any one period within society.<\/p>\n
Without this knowledge and sensitivity it is virtually
\nimpossible for any government to generate an atmosphere within
\nsociety which makes the public feel that the law is being
\nobserved and that justice prevails.<\/p>\n
Failure to incorporate the public's feelings about justice,
\nhonor and decency into court rulings or into government
\npronouncements results, ultimately, in loss of credibility and
\nloss of public respect. And no one can govern effectively without
\nthe public's trust and respect.<\/p>\n
Public reaction towards the latest developments with regard to
\nthe Indonesian Democratic Party, Sri Bintang Pamungkas, and the
\nallegation of collusion within the Supreme Court suggests very
\nstrongly that the government's credibility has been greatly
\neroded.<\/p>\n
Harsh statements and bold pronouncements by government
\nofficials about how things should be perceived and how the public
\nshould behave will not make members of the public change their
\nopinion regarding these three cases. In spite of all the punitive
\nstatements that government officials have launched against the
\nthree characters involved, they remain in high regard with the
\npublic.<\/p>\n
What makes people like me feel sad and depressed about this
\nwhole affair is that high-ranking government officials seem to be
\ntotally disregarding the public's feelings about justice, honor
\nand decency.<\/p>\n
Denying undeniable facts, for instance, constitutes a much
\nemployed tactic to win an argument by force and not by reason.
\nWhile the public perceive such acts as indecent and dishonorable,
\nit seems that many government officials regard them as normal and
\ncreditable.<\/p>\n
And although blaming a third party every time an undesirable
\nsituation arises is perceived by the public as an dishonest act,
\nagain it seems that many high-ranking government officials regard
\nsuch an act as harmless and permissible.<\/p>\n
Practices like this cannot, within the present circumstances,
\nenhance the respectability of the government in the public's eye.
\nMore often than not the public sees such tactics as an effort to
\nwrongly protect those who may really be responsible for the
\noccurrence of such a situation.<\/p>\n
How much longer will this situation last in our society?
\nLiving in mutual distrust has never been a healthy thing. It is
\nnot healthy for family life, not healthy for business life, and
\nespecially not healthy for a nation's life.<\/p>\n
Who has the responsibility to restore the public's trust and
\nrespect vis-a-vis government officials, government institutions
\nand the government itself? This is a question that must be
\nanswered honestly if we really want to restore a healthy and
\nvigorous nation's life at this juncture within our history.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, what are the prospects of Megawati, Sri
\nBintang Pamungkas and Judge Adi Andojo, the three Indonesian
\nmusketeers? Will they come out of this battle as victors, or will
\nthey be crushed by sheer power and eventually be forgotten by the
\npublic? Will they ultimately recede into political obscurity? No
\none, I think, can answer this question with certainty at the
\nmoment.<\/p>\n
Equally important is the question about what will become of
\nthis nation in the immediate future. Will it be able to restore
\nits capacity to reason and act responsibly, or will it degenerate
\ninto a further vortex of political and bureaucratic
\ndisintegration?<\/p>\n
Again, no one can, I think, at the moment give a definitive
\nanswer to this question. And I am afraid that the answers to
\nthese two questions are interrelated.<\/p>\n
Which means that the problem regarding the three personalities
\nis the problem of this nation. The issue of the three musketeers
\nhas by now become too big to be separated from the national issue
\nof restoring the public's trust in and respect for the
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
The decision of the government regarding these three public
\ncharacters will -- at least in the short term -- decisively
\ndetermine the course towards which this nation heads.<\/p>\n
The writer is an observer of social and cultural affairs.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesias-three-musketeers-face-the-nations-problems-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }