On political decency<\/p>\n
Elsewhere in the world, or even in this country at a different
\ntime, the case might not have attracted the widespread public
\nattention that it has now. Most probably, the factor that makes
\nit something of a cause celebre within the current Indonesian
\ncontext is that the kind of moral principle, which is known among
\nthe Dutch as politiek fatsoen, has for so long been absent from
\nIndonesia's political scene.<\/p>\n
The case in point concerns the resignation of Sophan Sophiaan,
\nof the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan),
\nas a member of the House of Representatives (DPR), and the
\nPeople's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the two \"houses\" of the
\nIndonesian legislature, where he has served the nation and his
\nparty for many years.<\/p>\n
In the context of Sophan's latest decision, the word fatsoen
\ncan probably best be translated into English as the word
\n\"decency\", \"propriety\" or \"decorum\". Politiek fatsoen, then,
\nwould be to behave with decency, or propriety, in matters of
\npolitics.<\/p>\n
In essence, it is the willingness to take responsibility for
\none's actions, either by taking decisions with a proper sense of
\nresponsibility or otherwise. If that cannot be done, it is one's
\nvoluntary withdrawal from the political decision-making process.<\/p>\n
Sophan refused to explain his action to the public, at least
\nnot before he had done so to the PDI Perjuangan party board. Word
\nhas been circulating for some time, however, that disappointment
\nover the performance of fellow legislators and over the political
\nsituation in general was the reason of his resignation.<\/p>\n
Sophan, who is considered to be one of President Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri's close associates, submitted his resignation to
\nthe DPR and MPR last Friday, on which occasion he told the media
\nthat his decision to quit was due to his inability to adapt to
\ncurrent political conditions.<\/p>\n
An earlier resignation request, submitted several months ago,
\nwas rejected by the President. It is speculated that this latest
\ndecision was prompted by a major rift in the trouble-prone party.
\nSophan's only comment in response was that the situation was a
\nresult of \"misperceptions about certain ideas\" of Megawati.<\/p>\n
To be sure, resignations from important positions are not
\nreally new in Indonesia. One prime example was the resignation of
\nMohammad Hatta from the vice presidency in the 1950s, after what
\nobservers described as irreconcilable differences between the
\nvice president and then president Sukarno. These resulted, among
\nother things, from Sukarno's insistence on admitting the
\nIndonesian Communist Party (PKI) into the Cabinet. Similarly,
\nthen vice president Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX declined to be
\nreelected for a third time during president Soeharto's New Order
\nera in 1978.<\/p>\n
Since then, however, such resignations on considerations of
\nconscience or morality have become a rare phenomenon, if they
\never occur at all. One key government figure during the Soeharto
\nera who was under pressure to resign even publicly commented that
\nit was \"not in the Indonesian tradition\" for officials to resign
\nvoluntarily.<\/p>\n
Thus, the refusal, or reluctance, of Golkar's Akbar Tanjung to
\nresign from his position as House of Representatives speaker, in
\nthe wake of his formally being declared a suspect in a major
\ncorruption case, can be seen as an extension of that \"tradition\".<\/p>\n
The reform movement notwithstanding, it is thus still very
\nmuch the tradition to hold on to one's job at whatever cost, at
\nleast in politics. Elsewhere, though, such as in the world of
\nbusiness, resignations as a token of acceptance of
\nresponsibility, either on moral grounds, for failures or for
\nnonachievement, appears to be growing, as witness the recent
\nresignation of some top officials of the state railway company,
\nPT KAI.<\/p>\n
Let's just hope that, few as these instances still are at the
\nmoment, it is a sign of morality gaining ground, slowly perhaps,
\nbut surely.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/on-political-decency-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}