Political reality<\/p>\n
How much, or how little, popular support President Abdurrahman
\nWahid still enjoys today is reflected in Saturday's resolution at
\nthe People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) when it overwhelmingly
\nvoted to call him to account for his erratic leadership.<\/p>\n
Eight of the 11 factions said they wanted to proceed with the
\nMPR Special Session to begin what is effectively an impeachment
\nprocess against the President. Two factions, including President
\nAbdurrahman's own Nation Awakening Party (PKB), boycotted the
\nsession. The Indonesian Military\/National Police faction,
\nprofessing neutrality on the issue, left the matter entirely up
\nto the MPR leadership.<\/p>\n
When the matter was put to an open vote, 591 of the 600
\nAssembly members present, including all 38 military and police
\nrepresentatives, voted to proceed with the constitutional process
\nto require the President to account for his leadership. That is
\nmore than 98 percent. Even if we assumed that the other 100
\nAssembly members who were absent for one reason or another would
\nhave voted in favor of the President, that would still leave us
\nwith 84 percent who felt that the time had come for Abdurrahman
\nto present his accountability report at the Assembly session on
\nMonday.<\/p>\n
Setting aside momentarily the debate about the
\nconstitutionality of the Special Session or even of the Assembly
\nitself, the MPR remains the best available measure to gauge the
\nPresident's popularity. In Abdurrahman's case, the vote on
\nSaturday was a measure of his unpopularity.<\/p>\n
The MPR is the product of the 1999 general election, which,
\nevery one agrees, was the most democratic election held in this
\ncountry since independence. For Abdurrahman to denounce the MPR
\nas undemocratic now is tantamount to denouncing his own
\npresidency, for this is the same institution which put him there
\nin the first place, in spite of his party winning a paltry 11
\npercent of the vote in the general election.<\/p>\n
The 700-strong MPR is also a better reflection than the House
\nof Representatives (DPR), which initiated the current Special
\nSession after serving two memorandums rebuking the President.
\nBesides the 500 House members, the MPR includes 135 elected
\nregional representatives and 65 representatives of societal
\ngroups. Even the majority of these 200 additional representatives
\nvoted to proceed with the Special Session.<\/p>\n
The simple numbers emerging from the opening plenary meeting
\nof the MPR on Saturday speak volumes about how support and
\ngoodwill for the President, which were overwhelming when he took
\ncharge of the country in October 1999, have eroded since then.<\/p>\n
These are the political realities which for some unexplained
\nreason have not sunk into Abdurrahman's head.<\/p>\n
Granted, the President is right when he says that the other
\npolitical reality is he still has the constitutional powers
\nvested in him by the MPR. The President may just get away with
\nhis plan to carry out his threat to impose a state of emergency,
\na constitutional prerogative that comes with his job. He would
\nthen be able to dissolve the MPR and arrest his political rivals.<\/p>\n
He might just survive this MPR impeachment attempt, but he
\nwould have to resort to increasingly authoritarian measures. He
\nwould then be ruling by power but without the popular consent or
\npolitical legitimacy. Going by the experience of previous
\npresidents in this country, he would then have to become more and
\nmore authoritarian in order to keep his power.<\/p>\n
As for the constitutional debate, there is simply no end to
\nit. The 1945 Constitution is a vaguely worded document that is
\nopen to far too much interpretation. Everyone can interpret it
\naccording to his or her needs. Presidents Sukarno, Soeharto and
\nBJ Habibie each had his own interpretation. Abdurrahman is now
\ncommitting the same mistake of trying to impose his own
\ninterpretation on the rest of us and justify retaining his power.<\/p>\n
The ultimate measure to justify one's grip on power therefore
\ncannot be the 1945 Constitution, but the popular legitimacy one
\nhas. On that count, based on Saturday's vote at the MPR,
\nAbdurrahman's presidency is no longer defensible.<\/p>\n
President Abdurrahman will make a grave mistake if he thinks
\nthat he can escape his destiny by deploying his fanatical
\nsupporters on the streets to help keep in him power. This will
\nonly make things more difficult for himself and his supporters,
\nincluding the Nahdulatul Ulama Muslim organization, later on. His
\ndecision to expel Matori Abdul Djalil as PKB chairman, a moderate
\nfigure in the party, will make reconciliation that much more
\ndifficult once this power struggle is settled, one way or
\nanother.<\/p>\n
He should also bear in mind that two can play the same game,
\nand the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan),
\nthe Golkar Party and the United Development Party (PPP) are all
\nfar larger than Abdurrahman's PKB. They too could, if so
\ninclined, deploy their equally fanatical supporters on the
\nstreets to counter his supporters.<\/p>\n
Let's keep this ongoing power struggle limited to within the
\nnation's political elite. Whether elected or not, that is what
\nour politicians are there for, to settle the question of the
\nnation's leadership. Keep the masses, who are already mired in
\nproblems of their own due to the prolonged financial crisis, out
\nof this messy political fight. But most of all, let the political
\nreality keep us all in check.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/political-reality-1447893297",
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