Adi Sasono's party vows to smash 'monopoly of information'

Frans Surdiasis, Research and Development Unit, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

This is the 15th article in a series on the 24 political parties contesting the 2004 elections.

Adi Sasono is way past his days of being a young activist and minister; and in the 1999 elections, when he still wielded some influence, his earlier party which once alleged of corruption, did not even pass the electoral threshold. So why is he back?

At 61, his passion to put his ideas into practice is still apparent; he said recently that joining politics was the only way one could influence public policy.

Long before he co-founded the Association of Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals (ICMI) with former president BJ Habibie, in the 1980s Adi was known for his book on the local version of the then popular "dependency theory" in political economy, co-written with economist Sritua Arief.

His appointment as minister of cooperatives and small enterprises in Habibie's Cabinet was seen as consistent with his long involvement in developing small-scale entrepreneurs. Among the awards he received in his activist days was the prestigious Aga Khan award, for planning a new market in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, that accommodated small traders and which became popular among locals and visitors.

In this aspect his orientation may have not changed much as he now campaigns his concept of a people's economy through his new party, the Freedom Party. The party's booklet still describes the theme of his aforementioned 1981 book -- the alliances among the local elite and political and economic interests, alliances perceived to be mainly responsible for a country that remains dependent and largely poor.

The reference list for cadres in the party booklet include similar material written in the 1970s and early 1980s, which he has not bothered to update amid today's debate on globalization, though now Adi says he is "pro-market".

In the new party, Adi still touts many of his fellow alumni of the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) where he was once senate chairman, although a few others have set up other new parties.

Adi denies being anticonglomerate, the image of him drawn not only from his championing of a people's economy but also because he was an ICMI founder and executive. He was also ICMI chairman from 2000 to 2005, but he resigned to set up the party. And a few years before the war on terrorism he was considered dangerous, particularly among non-Muslims and the outside world, as he advocated a bigger role for Muslims in the country, politically and economically, given their suppression under the New Order regime.

He made his position clear during a recent visit to The Jakarta Post by saying: "I'm anti-crony and pro-market. I'm not a Muslim extremist nor anti-Chinese." The party has Non-Muslims, such as those in East Nusa Tenggara, as constituents, he adds.

According to his biography, he is a grandson of Mohammad Roem, who was a well-known, trustworthy politician, and his parents "were pioneers in the movement of reducing segregation between indigenous and non-indigenous people" in the batik producing and trading town of Pekalongan, Central Java.

With his young supporters from the ITB, Adi promotes an updated version of the people's economy -- now the party calls it a "digital economy", popularizing the use of the Internet to shatter the "monopoly of information" held by those who manipulate people with no access to crucial know-how.

A network of "wired" people supporting small business, the party's booklet says, would enable sellers of raw material, for instance, "to offer their products directly to buyers".

Lack of information on markets has long been identified by experts as a major constraint to the country's small-scale entrepreneurs, besides lack of capital. During the crisis they were hailed as the backbone of the economy. Hence the party's mission includes encouraging a market driven economy based on principles of justice.

The party claims it still retains its nationwide network of cooperatives that will hopefully remain loyal. It would also look to the vast estimate of some 40 percent of swing voters among the country's 145 million eligible voters in the next elections, which all parties are eyeing.

But just as before, Adi's new party faces the challenge of marketing ideas in a landscape in which people are either fed up with politicians or who prefer parties that offer more familiar identification.

Then again, Adi might not be that serious -- considering that he says his participation in the elections is to make it all the more merrier.