What's true democracy?<\/p>\n
The road to democracy seems now to be jammed with noisy
\nmopeds. The craze about politics in a newly freed Indonesia has
\nrevealed some strange behavior among young Indonesian males,
\nespecially in Bali where the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI)
\ncongress was held.<\/p>\n
The enthusiasm for Megawati Soekarnoputri (chairman of the
\nparty) looked more like a football supporters' frenzy or rock
\nstar fans hysteria than anything related to political matters.
\nNot that the PDI congress shouldn't be a feast, but does
\npolitical awareness have anything to do with roaring motorbike
\nengines, blowing horns or riding without helmets for seven days
\nin a row? In fact, the PDI congress, at least out of the meeting
\nplace, has just been an opportunity for thousands of young left-
\nout Indonesians to go crazy, unchained, and breath some freedom
\nin an outgoing way. Just to get rid of their frustrations, their
\nboredom, to have fun and forget about a society which far from
\ngives them any hope of a better living. For most of them, their
\npolitical awareness is close to zero, something understandable in
\na country just released from decades of dictatorship, but they
\ngrasp that Megawati is offering something unheard of before. And
\nthis was enough to convince the youngest of them to remove the
\nKurt Cobain stickers they usually put on the back of their mopeds
\nand change it with ones of Mega. And so with this, T-shirts,
\nflags and headbands have become commonplace all over Bali. So,
\nwhat is the link between the dead rock star and the new
\nIndonesian icon? Nothing, except political illiteracy.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is now facing danger on its way to a true democracy,
\nbecause political freedom is not a motorized rally and doesn't
\nmean messing around in the streets, even in a friendly way. A
\nreal democratic system can only be implemented with mature and
\nconcerned citizens, otherwise chaos will be found just around the
\ncorner.<\/p>\n
Before campaigning for the next elections, raising the
\npolitical awareness of the people should be the first duty of the
\nhundred parties that have flourished all over the country.<\/p>\n
ERIC BUVELOT<\/p>\n
Jimbaran, Bali<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/whats-true-democracy-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }