PDI and Megawati<\/p>\n
As expected, last week's government-sponsored Indonesian
\nDemocratic Party (PDI) congress in Medan decided to remove
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri from the chairmanship. The congress,
\norganized by the party's breakaway members elected Megawati's
\npredecessor Soerjadi as the new chairman. Thus, one can conclude
\nthat the congress -- which has been declared illegal by the
\nMegawati camp -- could be considered a \"success\". It has clearly
\nserved its main purpose: to topple Megawati.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, dozens of pro-Megawati activists and security
\nofficers were injured during a bloody clash in Jakarta last
\nThursday. Last week also saw thousands of Megawati supporters in
\nseveral cities staging rallies in support of her chairing the
\nparty despite threats by officials who have warned that anyone
\nwho tries to disrupt stability will be \"crushed\".<\/p>\n
One cannot help but feel saddened by these developments. Where
\nhave all the noble principles of our political life, such as
\nethics, fairness, tolerance and brotherhood, gone? Aren't we all
\nsupposed to uphold the sacred principles delineated in our state
\nideology Pancasila, and put musyawarah (deliberation) and
\nmufakat (consensus) before anything else? And don't we all
\ncondemn the Machiavellian way of justifying the use of any means
\nto reach a desired end as running counter to our value system?<\/p>\n
The PDI affair leads us to believe, much to our dismay, that
\nnowadays our political ethics are deteriorating, if they have not
\nalready been totally forgotten by many of our officials and
\npoliticians. And much to our regret, those who are involved in
\nthis messy PDI affair seem in their haste to oust Megawati to
\nhave forgotten the long-term impact of their deeds on our
\nembryonic democracy. They should have been aware that people are
\nnow better educated and can easily see what is behind this kick-
\nMegawati-out campaign. They should also have been able to see the
\ndanger that the public might lose their confidence in the current
\nsystem.<\/p>\n
Evidence that this is happening exists in abundance. The
\nunprecedented street demonstrations staged by thousands of
\nMegawati's grassroots supporters in several cities in the last
\nseveral days show that people are enraged by the contemptuous way
\nin which she has been ousted. What is more interesting is how in
\nthe last several weeks Megawati has won open support from people
\nwho are not PDI members -- certainly an unprecedented phenomenon
\nin our country's politics.<\/p>\n
Megawati may lose the chairmanship of the party, but it is now
\nquite apparent that instead of having been delegated to the back
\nof the stage, as the plotters had planned, she has been elevated
\nto the center stage of Indonesian politics and become a new
\n\"informal\" leader. It is also obvious that the PDI congress in
\nMedan will not stop the internal bickering within PDI but will
\ninstead deepen the rift between the pro-Megawati and anti-
\nMegawati camps.<\/p>\n
In the end, it may hurt PDI's performance in the general
\nelection next year, which analysts say is one of the targets of
\nthe plotters. There are also enough indications that this
\nlamentable affair has, to a certain extent, even split the
\nnation, at least its elite.<\/p>\n
It is also apparent that Megawati is a victim of the current
\npolitical system, which leaves a political party's legitimacy to
\nthe discretion of the government instead of the voters or the
\npeople. In this system, the government, which is officially the
\n\"supervisor\" of all political organizations, has the power to
\nchoose which persons are acceptable to lead a certain
\norganization and which are not. Without the government's consent
\nno one can become a party leader, although he or she is
\nconstitutionally elected by the party's members. Megawati has
\ntried to challenge the system by showing that she has the support
\nof the majority of PDI's grassroots members, but her arguments
\nhave been largely ignored by the government.<\/p>\n
It is this system which can turned a good boy into a bad boy,
\nand later into a good boy again as in the case of Soerjadi. He
\nwas rejected by the government when he was renominated as PDI
\nchairman in the 1994 PDI congress in Medan, because he was then
\ndeclared \"legally defective\". Consequently, he lost the party
\nchairmanship. But last week he was declared a good boy again, and
\nwas elected PDI chairman. Nothing is said about his being legally
\ndefective anymore. His future career will depend on how well he
\nbehaves.<\/p>\n
What the final outcome of the PDI affair will be is still hard
\nto see at this stage. Obviously there will be prolonged tensions,
\nwhich will surely disrupt the country's stability. More and more
\npeople can be expected to become disenchanted with the current
\nsystem. The rumbles of disappointment will become stronger. As
\nfor Megawati, it is likely that she will have to fight a running
\nbattle, unless something else happens -- something that changes
\nthe political landscape of this country.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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