State's role too strong, scholars say<\/p>\n
KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara (JP): A number of political
\nscholars said yesterday that Indonesia's government is
\ndomineering at the expense of the development of society itself.<\/p>\n
Members of the Association of Indonesian Political Scientists
\nscrutinized the role of the state at a seminar yesterday and
\nfound that the central government is too strong for the nation's
\nown good.<\/p>\n
They found that there is still too much central government
\ncontrol over regional administrations and political
\norganizations.<\/p>\n
Two prominent academics, Syamsuddin Haris and Kris Nugroho,
\nunderlined the meddling in the internal affairs of political
\norganizations to support their argument that a civil society was
\nstill elusive.<\/p>\n
They said the laws hinder the public from being creative and
\nfreeing themselves from interference -- the prerequisites for the
\ndevelopment of a civil society.<\/p>\n
Syamsuddin, a researcher from the Indonesian Institute of
\nSciences, said that state domination is strengthening in newly
\nindustrialized countries in the Third World.<\/p>\n
"The New Order government is enjoying enormous power to
\ncontrol the people's economic and political activities," he said
\nin the three-day seminar opened by the Governor of East Nusa
\nTenggara, Herman Musakabe.<\/p>\n
Legislation passed in 1985 virtually gives the government the
\noption to intervene in the internal affairs of any political
\norganization, although the law justifies intervention only if the
\norganization challenges the state ideology Pancasila and means to
\nreplace it with other doctrines, such as communism.<\/p>\n
"The fact is that none of the conflicts that have riddled the
\nIndonesian Democratic Party, the United Development Party and the
\ngovernment-backed political grouping, Golkar, over the past
\ndecade are ideological in nature. It's simply a battle for
\nleadership," he said.<\/p>\n
The system that justifies the state's meddling proves to have
\ncrippled political organizations as a means for the people to
\nchannel their aspirations, he added.<\/p>\n
"Therefore if the democratization drive only results in the
\ngovernment's tightening control over society, there won't be
\ndemocracy in the foreseeable future ...," he said.<\/p>\n
Kris Nugroho, a lecturer at the Surabaya-based Airlangga
\nUniversity's school of social and political sciences stressed
\nthat an overly-strong government was to blame for the weakening
\nof political organizations in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The might of the government is not balanced out by strong
\npolitical parties that play the role of check and balance
\nmechanisms.<\/p>\n
"This makes a flimsy foundation for the development of a civil
\nsociety. Besides, the strong state over the weak society creates
\na political climate which is unfavorable for change in the top
\nnational leadership because the ruling elite considers any move
\nto change the system a challenge to their establishment," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The overly strong government, he said, makes the
\ntransformation into a civil society a longer process. (pan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/states-role-too-strong-scholars-say-1447893297",
"image": ""
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