RI democracy: A new paradigm?<\/p>\n
I believe that the people of Indonesia can be optimistic about
\nthe Abdurrahman Wahid-Megawati Soekarnoputri duo. This is a good
\nand winning ticket on paper. Now they face a tremendous task,
\nputting Indonesia's economy back on track, knowing all the debts
\nalready accumulated under Soeharto's and Habibie's drives.<\/p>\n
To accomplish that task, they will need a clear vision looking
\nright into the future of the country and its silent majority.
\nFocusing on the past would be a mistake. So they should put all
\ncases of corruption, collusion and nepotism in the hands of the
\nMinistry of Justice and ensure that they are handled by a clean
\nand fair minister of justice. During these investigations, they
\nwill have to focus on more important points on their agenda.<\/p>\n
That agenda could comprise the improvement of the welfare of
\nthe Indonesian people, the launching of federalism of the country
\nto preserve its unity, the development of training programs in
\nvarious ministries, the alleviation of discrimination from laws,
\nthe establishment of antimonopoly laws, the increase of civil
\nservants' wages to decent levels (a minimum of four times current
\nlevels).<\/p>\n
I believe that by looking at the composition of the Cabinet,
\nwe already have lots of indications. I am optimistic that the
\nabove can be done if the will is there. For a democracy to raise
\nor exist, you need to have a clear opposition movement. But the
\nway politics is culturally run in Indonesia does not allow a
\nclear picture of the pros and cons in our legislative bodies.
\nHowever, maybe Indonesia does not need the (Western) opposition
\nconcept in politics. Maybe Indonesia is on the verge of coming up
\nwith a new (Eastern) approach to democracy which would be based
\non elections and national conciliation at the government level.
\nThat would avoid part of the Indonesian people being left out of
\nthe decision process. In a way, that could be a new model of
\ndemocracy even better than the current models developed during
\nthe last 200 years by the Western democracies. The Utusan
\nGolongan (groups' representatives) you have here is, in my
\nopinion, a plus.<\/p>\n
Still the government will have to take lots of unpopular
\ndecisions because all the money borrowed by Indonesia in the past
\nand in the near future will have to be paid back and many
\nsubsidies will have to be cut.<\/p>\n
I hope that the new leaders of this country will act with
\nintegrity and honesty to enhance the spirit of democracy in their
\nown country. I also appeal to Western democracies to assist
\nIndonesia by pushing the IMF to reschedule, in a different and
\nmore clever way (not on a time basis), the overall Indonesian
\ndebt and to allow Indonesia to subsidize basic commodities
\nconcerning the lowest social categories. If not, we -- Western
\ndemocracies -- would still be acting as mere and violent
\ncolonialists.<\/p>\n
YVAN MAGAIN<\/p>\n
Bandung, West Java<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ri-democracy-a-new-paradigm-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }