New Order faces legitimacy crisis: Scholar<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The New Order government of President Soeharto
\nwill face a legitimacy crisis unless it proceeds with democratic
\nreforms, an academic said yesterday.<\/p>\n
Mochtar Pabottingi of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences
\n(LIPI) said the Soeharto administration's political legitimacy is
\nat stake following the administration's focus on national
\nstability for over 25 years at the expense of democracy.<\/p>\n
\"Apart from his spectacular achievements in political
\nstability and economic development, Soeharto's development
\npolicies put his legitimacy at stake,\" Mochtar said in a seminar
\nsponsored by LIPI.<\/p>\n
The two-day seminar held in memory of Alfian, one of
\nIndonesia's greatest political thinkers who died two years ago,
\nreviewed the Indonesian political format under the New Order, the
\nphrase used to describe successive administrations under
\nPresident Soeharto since he came to power in 1966.<\/p>\n
Acknowledging the necessity of sustainable development,
\nMochtar suggested that the government also nurture
\ndemocratization as the more educated public increasingly demands.<\/p>\n
The government's tight control over political forces has
\nenabled Soeharto to implement his economic policy practically
\nwithout opposition, he said.<\/p>\n
Soeharto rose to power in the middle of the 1960s when
\nIndonesia's economic situation under the late president Sukarno's
\nguided democracy was in deep chaos.<\/p>\n
The concentration of economic and political power in the hands
\nof the elite has since made the implementation of development
\nprograms smooth, Mochtar said.<\/p>\n
\"But the bad thing is that it has given rise to monopolistic
\npractices, favoritism and collusion between bureaucrats and big
\nbusiness,\" he said. \"These problems hamper efforts for equal
\ndistribution of development gains.\"<\/p>\n
Highlighting economic disparities among social groups, Mochtar
\npointed to noted economist Soemitro's widely reported statement
\nmade last year. The theory went that approximately one percent,
\nmostly Chinese Indonesians, of Indonesia's 185 million people,
\ncontrol 80 percent of the development cake.<\/p>\n
\"Marginalization in economics and politics will continue to
\ntake their toll on the indigenous people. Many are beginning to
\nfeel the tension ... they feel abandoned in pursuing the nation's
\nideals,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Well-known popular revolts that developed into bloody
\nincidents in Lampung, Tanjung Priok and East Timor over the past
\ndecade illustrated just how much people's trust in the government
\nhas waned, he added.<\/p>\n
The New Order government, the argument goes, glorified
\npolitical stability for \"too long\", creating the impression that
\nIndonesia was in an everlasting state of emergency.<\/p>\n
He said while the state ideology Pancasila encourages public
\npolitical participation and equal distribution of state wealth,
\nthe New Order has prevented such participation and closed its
\neyes to unequal economic growth.<\/p>\n
\"The New Order is facing three dilemmas all at once: The
\nchoice between economic growth and equal distribution; between
\npolitical stability and participation; and between cosmetic and
\ntrue democracy,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Mochtar suggested that the bureaucracy allow democracy through
\n\"correct\" elections, representative and clean government.<\/p>\n
The Armed Forces (ABRI), he said, should also review the
\nconcept and implementation of the increasingly debated
\n\"Dwifungsi\", a doctrine that enables it to play politics in
\naddition to its regular defense job.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Father Frans Magnis-Suseno, who presented his paper
\non human rights and democracy, defended the government's policy
\nof relying on national stability to develop the economy.<\/p>\n
Security, he argued, was a precondition for any society to
\nbuild a prosperous nation. \"Development is impossible without
\nstability,\" he said. (pan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/new-order-faces-legitimacy-crisis-scholar-1447893297",
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