PDI Perjuangan: So much to learn to become a modern party<\/p>\n
The leadership of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
\n(PDI Perjuangan) have been talking about making the party into a
\n\"modern\" one. Mochtar Buchori, the chief organizer of the party
\ncongress which ended on Saturday, talked to The Jakarta Post
\nabout the issue at the congress in Semarang. An excerpt of the
\ninterview follows:<\/p>\n
Question: What does a \"modern\" party mean, particularly for
\nthe PDI Perjuangan?<\/p>\n
Answer: There are misunderstandings about the word \"modern\"
\nthat must be clarified.<\/p>\n
First , modern means being able to give more adequate
\nresponses to existing challenges. This is not merely being up-to-
\ndate. If you do not renew your responses according to demands of
\nthe challenge, then you can only be superficially modern but not
\ntruly modern in your mind ... being able to think in rational
\nterms over your problems.<\/p>\n
Second, I think it was (political analyst) Arbi Sanit who
\nasked how PDI Perjuangan could become a modern party while its
\nmembers are conservative. The opposite of modern is not really
\nconservative, but archaic or ancient, or orthodox.<\/p>\n
Conservative is the opposite of progressive.<\/p>\n
So the decision to become a modern party actually means that
\nPDI Perjuangan is ready to make a transitional journey to replace
\nits old characteristics with new ones. But modernization is a
\nprocess which cannot be instantly achieved.<\/p>\n
If it is true, and I think it is, that most party members are
\nstill archaic or orthodox, then the party leadership's duty is to
\neducate them so that they become more capable of making new
\nresponses to existing challenges.<\/p>\n
It is also their duty to train them in formulating and
\nstructuring the problems in appropriate terms.<\/p>\n
Third, modernity is not an all-or-nothing. One can say to what
\nextent someone is modern and to what extent he or she is
\northodox. The problem is how one moves as far away as possible
\nfrom being orthodox and closer to modernity.<\/p>\n
One characteristic of modernity regards perception. If you
\nwant to become modern you must be able to see future challenges
\nas clearly as possible.<\/p>\n
How would that apply to the party?<\/p>\n
One principle is that the culture of pluralism is the aim of
\nthe organization. We must develop cultural pluralism to overcome
\nvarious tendencies toward primordialism.<\/p>\n
The killing of ethnic Chinese is an expression of ethnic
\nprimordialism, the fight between followers of one religion and
\nthose of another is an expression of religious primordialism.
\nPrimordialism can only be overcome if we develop loyalty to
\nplurality, to replace our loyalty to our own sectarian place.<\/p>\n
This would mean respecting the fact that we are plural and
\ntrying to be tolerant toward each other.<\/p>\n
According to one thinker from the Islamic world, being
\ntolerant is not enough because it can mean grouching acceptance
\nof existing differences. Mutuality is a higher achievement. It is
\nnot just accepting differences but also appreciating and
\nrespecting them and trying to learn from one another.<\/p>\n
Would the party leadership understand that?<\/p>\n
This is a problem. Yet, if you want to become modern then you
\nmust learn to perceive this problem.<\/p>\n
Modernization is also a matter of managing conflicts. For any
\nmodern organization, conflict is unavoidable (as evident in) big
\neconomic organizations, academic or religious ones.<\/p>\n
In our culture it has always been our way to solve problems by
\navoiding conflicts. But conflicts exist in reality. It is our
\nduty to manage them, to control them, so that those involved do
\nnot express themselves in unruly behavior.<\/p>\n
The rule of being modern is not to use physical violence in
\nsolving conflicts. Instead, use reason and discuss the sources of
\nconflicts. If you go deeper into any conflict, at one point you
\nwill find some common ground.<\/p>\n
From there you can try to justify specific responses. Then you
\nwould (gradually) find more common ground ... and reduce the
\nintensity and magnitude of the conflicts ...<\/p>\n
That could take forever.<\/p>\n
But it is the only way. Every large country with military
\npower pleads that international conflicts cannot be solved by
\nwar. War only creates destruction among all parties concerned.<\/p>\n
One tenet of a modern nation is that all conflicts are solved
\nthrough resolution and discussion ... All parties in Indonesia,
\nnot only PDI Perjuangan, should learn this.<\/p>\n
My question is how to make the party leadership realize these
\nissues, and how to prepare the whole party to meet these
\nchallenges ...<\/p>\n
The habit of shouting to one another in a conference is a
\nbeginning of a physical violence. Violence also occurs in
\nlanguage. You can see from the meeting yesterday that a lot of
\npeople have still to learn how to avoid violent language.<\/p>\n
There is so much to do, so much to learn. There must be an
\neducation program for the party masses to help them gradually
\nmove to modernity.<\/p>\n
Another specific question related to this is what kind of
\ndemocracy ... Even South Korea implements democracy differently
\nfrom Britain or France. There are still elements of violence in
\nKorea and Taiwan. Like us, they are still learning ... democracy.<\/p>\n
How long will it take to become a modern party?<\/p>\n
What I want to stress is that the road to becoming a modern
\nparty is a long road. You can't automatically be modern just
\nbecause you are determined to do so.<\/p>\n
The problem is how to move from here to the goal. It must be
\nclearly described. (Then) you can construct annual programs of
\nactions.<\/p>\n
The state of being a modern party cannot be achieved in only
\none, two, three or four years. I think we need some 10 to 15
\nyears so that we can really become a modern party capable of
\ngiving adequate responses to existing challenges. That's true for
\nthe whole nation.<\/p>\n
I believe those who are aware of this will become more mature
\nthan those who are not. The awareness of existing problems is a
\nprerequisite to develop programs to become a modern party.<\/p>\n
We can improve this awareness by constantly re-examining
\nourselves. From congress to congress you evaluate yourselves.
\nRight now, for instant, we evaluate our performance since the
\nBali congress to the general election.<\/p>\n
The problems we are facing presently are really complex
\nbecause we do not realize, for instance, the consequences of a
\nscientific explosion.<\/p>\n
Any nation that wants to be able to take part in global
\neconomic competition must be able to choose strategic types of
\nindustries in which it has the most advantage, such as
\nbiotechnology. But we don't have such an industry.<\/p>\n
From now on, what are called the science-based industries will
\ndominate the economy. What defines a science-based industry,
\nhowever, is not totally understood by political leaders here. So
\nthere must be cooperation between political leaders and the
\nacademia.<\/p>\n
How are relations between party leaders with the academia?<\/p>\n
What I see now is a stand-off between the two. There are
\npeople in the political world who have strong prejudices against
\nthe academia. And I think PDI Perjuangan is one of them.<\/p>\n
Being an academician in the party is like swimming against the
\ntide. If you are not strong enough you'll be carried away and
\nyou'll stop being reformist.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, academicians should not stand aloof vis-a-
\nvis politicians. Each has his own role. The two should ideally
\nwork together to speed up national modernization.<\/p>\n
As the biggest political party in Indonesia, PDI Perjuangan
\nshould also consider its contribution to moving the nation
\ntowards a modern economy in which science-based industries will
\nbecome an important part.<\/p>\n
Thus, many agendas need to be formulated to implement in real
\nterms the decision to become a modern party. It should not in any
\nway remain a slogan. It must be developed into programs.<\/p>\n
Otherwise, being modern will only become an elusive dream and
\nwill never become a reality. (Sri Wahyuni)<\/p>",
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