A glimpse into Indonesian politics

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.