A glimpse into Indonesian politics

This article is based on an address to journalists made by Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas during a dinner hosted by the Asia-Europe Foundation in Jakarta on May 13.

JAKARTA: If contemporary Indonesian history was a base relief of the kind we see in temples such as Borobodur in Central Java, we would currently be standing at the point where we are just about to pass the third panel and get our first glimpse of the fourth.

The first panel coincides with the presidency of the late president Sukarno, which was devoted to asserting the country's sovereignty and independence, basic non-aligned policies and Weltauschauung -- (philosophical) world view -- in the bipolar world of the Cold War.

That was a time of nation-building and of forging national unity, when economic development had to take a back-seat. In the end, as we all know, this resulted in high profile international political activism but with disastrous results for the economy.

The second panel depicts the New Order era of former president Soeharto, which concentrated on the pursuit of social and economic development braced by a rigid adherence to political stability. It gave us three decades of unprecedented economic growth, but underneath the impressive superstructure that it built, there were many weaknesses that could have been remedied by a timely infusion of democratic reforms.

These reforms would only come during the third presidency to rule Indonesia, that of President B.J. Habibie, which is depicted by the third panel. Indeed, the present Reform Development Government has sought to carry out far-reaching reforms in the political, economic and social life of the nation. Without these immediate reforms, the nation might have fallen into even greater turmoil and mutual antagonism.

Without the political and legal reforms instituted by the current government, the elections next month would not be possible at all. Because of reforms in the socio-economic sphere, we are no longer in as desperate a strait as we were in 1998, when the economy contracted by more than 13 percent after averaging 7 percent growth per annum for more than two decades. The rupiah has stabilized and is getting stronger, inflation is under control, interest rates are falling and, perhaps later this year, if this positive trend continues, we might achieve modest economic growth of around one percent. I say this, of course, with great caution. We are not out of the woods yet, but neither are we still in the heart of darkness.

The third panel is a very short one. The main mission of this presidency is to save the nation from the menace of an implosion and to lay the basis for future consolidation and growth. That is all that it can possibly do. There is not sufficient time for refinement or finishing touches.

The fourth panel is still bare. The developments that it will depict are yet to take place. But it is our fervent hope that, whoever the president will be, he or she will inaugurate an era devoted to consolidating, completing and strengthening the reforms that have been launched by the present government. When that happens, we will be able to lay down a firmer, more durable foundation for social and economic growth, and bring about a full restoration of confidence in all aspects of our national life.

All of that depends on the outcome of the election, which is the ultimate test of our political maturity. The final arbiter on the quality of the elections will of course be the voting public. Hopefully, at the moment of truth in the solitude of the polling booth, people will vote intelligently according to their conscience and succeed in guarding the sanctity of the ballot against pollution from the politics of money, fraud and intimidation.

It is my belief that the Indonesian electorate will pass the test and that, whatever the final result turns out to be, the clear winner to emerge will be Indonesian democracy. That is the consummation that we must all hope and pray for.

The writer is Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Indonesia.