PPP congress reveals tolerance, maturity<\/p>\n
The United Development Party has just concluded its congress
\nwithout any serious delay. Political scientist Amir Santoso says
\nthat if post congress weeks are free from incidents, the
\nrelatively congress may reflect the dawn of the spirit of
\nmaturity in the Moslem-oriented party.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): In an earlier article published on Aug. 26 I
\npredicted that Ismail Hasan Metareum would regain his position as
\nchairman of the United Development Party (PPP), and I was proven
\nto be correct.<\/p>\n
Whoever intends to observe politics in Indonesia cannot be
\ncontent with watching the indicators that appear on the surface.
\nIf one were to look only at the surface indicators, vocal
\ncandidates such as Sri Bintang Pamungkas and Matori Abdul Djalil
\nwould emerge as probable \"formatters\" on the electoral board. As
\nit turned out, neither of them are holding any position
\nwhatsoever on the new party board.<\/p>\n
Such is the practice of politics in Indonesia. Those who are
\nvocal, that is, those who campaign are usually not elected. On
\nthe other hand those who remain silent hold a good possibility of
\nbecoming a member or even a chairman of an organization.<\/p>\n
Indonesian culture<\/p>\n
This indicates that the public is, as yet, averse to overt and
\nbrazen campaigning for office. In Indonesia, to present oneself
\nis considered as a show of arrogance or stirring up trouble.
\nThose who have ambitions of becoming a party chairman will have
\nto be aware of this aspect of Indonesian culture.<\/p>\n
Cross alliances among MI (Muslimin Indonesia) and NU
\n(Nahdlatul Ulama) candidates during the conference, such as
\nbetween Ismail Hasan Metareum (MI) and Hamzah Has (NU) and
\nbetween Matori (NU) and H.M. Dault (MI) -- although based more on
\npersonal ambitions -- is an indication that element feelings are
\nweakening. This a welcome development which will, hopefully,
\ncontinue to grow to ensure the preservation of party unity.<\/p>\n
The defeat of NU's Matori, who enjoys the support of the
\nRembang Group of ulemas, is an indication that the ulemas were
\nnot unanimous in their support of Matori. On the other hand,
\nIsmail Hasan's supporters of the MI faction showed enough support
\nfor their candidate for him to win. This shows that NU suffers
\nfrom a weakness of coordination and organization as well as a
\nlack of ability on the part of some of the ulemas to interpret
\nthe political trend at the national level.<\/p>\n
Normally the ulemas have shown themselves to be willing to
\naccommodate the wishes of the government. This time, however,
\nsome of them failed to endorse Ismail Hasan, who has the
\ngovernment's support, and gave their support to Matori. This,
\nhowever, is no indication of opposition on the part of the ulemas
\nagainst the government, but rather reflects their opposition to
\nthe MI. It is also an indication of a lack of information on
\ntheir part regarding the government's wishes. In other words, the
\ngovernment's lobbyists have not been very successful in their
\nefforts with regard to some of the ulemas.<\/p>\n
The fact that the conference proceeded without incident, on
\nthe one hand, indicates that the level of tolerance among the
\nparticipants was quite high. This is characteristic of the MI and
\nNU, both of which usually prefer to avoid conflicts with the
\ngovernment, in contrast with a group like the Indonesian
\nDemocratic Party (PDI). On the other hand, it seems that in
\nhandling the PPP conference the government did not learn the
\nlessons of the PDI conference which took place not so long ago.<\/p>\n
Tolerance<\/p>\n
The PPP congress has shown that, while Indonesia's Moslem
\nsociety is quite heterogeneous, it also possesses a high degree
\nof tolerance. For this reason I believe that Moslems in Indonesia
\nwill never become \"fundamentalists\". They will react only when
\nreal pressure is put on Islam, as happened during the colonial
\nperiod and during the heyday of the Communist Party around 1965.
\nBecause of this tolerance, Islam is a unifying factor in
\nIndonesian society and this characteristic sets this country's
\nMoslems apart from many others in the world.<\/p>\n
If no further protests occur in the wake of the recent PPP
\ncongress, such as the establishment of rival PPP party boards (as
\nwas the case with the PDI) or attempts to \"deflate\" the party's
\ninfluence as happened during the 1987 general elections, there
\nwill be reason to re-evaluate the maturity of the PPP in general,
\nand the NU faction in particular.<\/p>\n
Victory and defeat should indeed be taken in a spirit of good
\nsportsmanship and maturity to keep the party and this country's
\nMoslem society intact. After all, a congress is merely one
\nindividual event, in the context of the PPP's continual efforts
\ntowards the improvement of the living conditions of Indonesia's
\nMoslems.<\/p>\n
The writer is a lecturer in political science at the
\nUniversity of Indonesia.<\/p>",
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