2001 marked by moral decadence, analyst says

2001 marked by moral decadence, analyst says

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A political analyst says that 2001 has been marked by
excessive immoral practices on the part of politicians, ranging
from corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN) to the abuse of
power.

This phenomenon, which Hermawan Sulistyo of the Indonesian
Institute of Sciences (LIPI) has labeled moral decadence, is
expected to continue over the next few years or at least until
the next general election in 2004.

Hermawan said on Monday evening that, throughout this year,
money politics and other corrupt practices had become
increasingly widespread in all three of the country's key
political institutions -- the legislature, the judiciary and the
executive.

"We can see a politician starting his career driving a Toyota
Kijang van who has a Jaguar within just two years," he said when
speaking about political trends during 2001.

Hermawan said another political phenomenon in 2001 was the
excessive abuse of power by nearly all politicians.

If during Soeharto's repressive presidency many officials
misused power merely for economic motives, top officials now
frequently used their positions in the state apparatus to advance
the interests of their political parties or to further their own
political careers, he said.

He gave as examples actions taken by President Megawati
Soekarnoputri, Vice President Hamzah Haz, Minister of Defense
Matori Abdul Djalil and Justice and Human Rights Minister Yusril
Ihza Mahendra.

According to Hermawan, after Hamzah was elected Vice President
he devoted much more of his time to his duties as chairman of the
United Development Party (PPP) than he did to his vice
presidential duties.

"This can be seen from what he was doing when he made regional
visits, where nearly 70 percent of his guests had a connection
with political parties or at least with his own political party."

Hermawan said Matori, Yusril and also Hamzah used their
positions in the state apparatus to strengthen their standing in
their political parties, which had been hit by internal
conflicts. "If Yusril and Matori didn't hold cabinet positions, I
think they would have lost their positions in their parties," he
added.

Meanwhile, Kusnanto Anggoro, a military analyst from the
Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), focused on
the substantial role played by the military in politics
throughout the year.

As a clear example of this, he pointed to the military's
rejection of the imposition of a state of emergency declared by
then president Abdurrahman Wahid in July as he fought to hold on
to power.

"Whatever the reason, it was strange that the military did not
abide by a policy decreed by the president, as the highest
military commander," said Kusnanto at a year-end political and
military review held by the Centre for Political Studies.

But in general he admitted that demilitarization had proceeded
well, particularly in the sense that the military now no longer
had the "veto" rights it enjoyed during the New Order era. "At
that time we could not say no to the military, but now such veto
rights have been eliminated," Kusnanto said.

He added that there were still several remnants of a military
role in the socio-political realm. The first related to the
military's territorial role, which still affects the political
mechanism in the regions, particularly in relation to elections
for regents and governors.

"We still do not know when such a territorial function will be
totally eliminated," said Kusnanto.

The second is the military function, which is still
untouchable and difficult to solve. On the one hand the military
function is still needed as long as the state doesn't provide the
military with an adequate budget. On the other hand, its business
role is no longer relevant, given the current reform process.