Political alienation and antipathy rules<\/p>\n
Mochtar Buchori, Legislator, Jakarta, mbuchori@indo.net.id<\/p>\n
Antipathy toward political parties among the Indonesian public
\nhas been growing rapidly. All political parties, big and small,
\nhave managed somehow to alienate themselves from the public. This
\nwill have grave consequences for the projected 2004 general
\nelection. It is feared that the percentage of people abstaining
\nto vote will be very high this time. Some estimates put this
\nfigure at more than 50 percent of eligible voters.<\/p>\n
Why does this happen? I think the political parties have only
\nthemselves to blame in this regard. While during the short-lived
\nreformation era people lauded political parties for their firm
\nstand against corruption, collusion, and nepotism, now they are
\nlooked upon as inheritors of this mischief.<\/p>\n
Right now people are convinced that political parties will not
\nbe able to improve their lives. Worse still, many think that our
\npoliticians now have neither a plan nor the intention to
\neradicate poverty and misery, and to improve the welfare of the
\npeople. They are there to serve their own interests and the
\ninterests of their respective parties.<\/p>\n
Criticism of and disapproval toward politicians have gone so
\nfar that many people loathe legislatures and legislators, both at
\nthe national and the local levels. In their opinion these
\ninstitutions completely ignore public interests and aspirations,
\nand instead at times behave as adversaries of the people. There
\nare legislators who are quite aware of this public sentiment, but
\ntheir number is very small. These politicians try hard to
\ncamouflage their identity as legislators, and are embarrassed
\nwhenever someone recognizes them as such.<\/p>\n
It should be mentioned in this connection that a great number
\nof political personalities have become instantly rich; while at
\nthe bottom ordinary people suffer more and more. This creates
\nanger, frustration, and impatience within society. This makes the
\npublic, initially distrustful of political parties, but later on
\nthis sentiment develops into dislike and antipathy.<\/p>\n
The current political climate has made many people decide, at
\nleast for now, that they will not vote in the 2004 general
\nelection. This situation is aggravated by the fact that some big
\npolitical personalities have either lost much of their popularity
\nor completely lost it. While during the political campaign for
\nthe 1998 general election people rallied themselves behind big
\npersonalities like Abdurrahman Wahid, Megawati Soekarnoputri,
\nAkbar Tandjung, or Amien Rais, at the moment there seems to be no
\nsingle politician, sufficiently known to the public, whom the
\npublic considers their idol.<\/p>\n
How will the public decide which party to support? Casting a
\nvote on the basis of ideological considerations is very unlikely,
\nbecause knowledge and consciousness of political ideologies is
\nvery low among the public, if not non-existent. Besides, all
\npolitical parties have, failed to formulate their party's
\nideology in terms that are sufficiently clear and unambiguous to
\nthe public.<\/p>\n
We can ask for example, "What is the main ideological
\ndifference among Islamic parties?" No one can give an unequivocal
\nanswer to this question. The name Indonesian Democratic Party for
\nStruggle (PDI Perjuangan) suggests that the party's ideology is
\ndemocracy. Is it? Or is it nationalism? And what is the ideology
\nof the Golkar Party, the party that ruled during the entire New
\nOrder era? And in what way has this ideology reformed? Again, no
\none will be able to give a satisfactory answer.<\/p>\n
This difficult situation is compounded by the unbelievable
\nrise in the number of political parties. According to one member
\nof the General Elections Commission (KPU), there are at the
\nmoment about 240 registered parties in the country. Even if only
\nhalf of these registered parties do qualify for the upcoming
\ngeneral election, it still makes the situation very confusing for
\nthe public.<\/p>\n
The only way for Indonesian political parties to draw sympathy
\nfrom the public is by improving their image. But after they have
\nruined it during the last two-and-a-half years, improving their
\npublic image will be very difficult and will take time. Political
\nparties can only restore their damaged image if they can convince
\nthe public that they are not as bad as the public suspects; that
\nthere are still good, honorable, and competent people among their
\nranks. At the same time they must push notorious personalities in
\ntheir parties into the background, to make them invisible to the
\npublic.<\/p>\n
Some people worry about the further consequences of the
\npresent situation. In their opinion, what is at stake is the
\nfuture of democracy in Indonesia, and the future of the country
\nitself. If the majority of the public no longer trust political
\nparties, and the people and the society become unthinkably
\nrestless and unruly, what will happen? We should not forget in
\nthis regard that people at the grass roots still prefer "good
\nlife" to good governance or democracy.<\/p>\n
It is not unthinkable that in a situation like this people
\nwill welcome any change that in their opinion promises a speedy
\nimprovement in their lives. Even military rule or any other type
\nof totalitarian rule will be welcome!<\/p>\n
Frightening, isn't it?<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/political-alienation-and-antipathy-rules-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }