'Class has nothing to do with Indonesian politics'

JAKARTA (JP): The issue of class, according to State Minister of Environment Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, has not played a significant part in Indonesia's political development because the country has no middle class.

"Everything here was done under the existing conditions. It has nothing to do with the middle class," said Sarwono, who, before joining President Soeharto's cabinet in 1988, was known as a political analyst.

"There is no middle class in Indonesia, and therefore it is difficult to assign it a role in Indonesian politics," he said during a discussion with journalists on Saturday.

He said the political system in Indonesia is very different from those found in the Philippines, Thailand and South Korea, where the middle classes dominate and help to build democracy.

The Philippines' powerful and influential middle class allowed the nation to rebuild as soon as strongman Ferdinand Marcos was toppled in the 1980s, he said, adding, "We don't have that kind of tradition."

What happened in the Philippines also happened in Central Europe, though the middle class there was suppressed by the Soviet Union for 40 years. "They (Central Europe) already had a middle class. When the Soviet Union broke apart they moved quickly to rebuild the infrastructure."

Sarwono, a former student activist, was one of the brains behind the development of Golkar, the dominant political group, in the 1980s. At one time he served as its secretary-general. He was recruited by President Soeharto in 1988 as State Minister of Administrative Reform. In 1993 he was appointed State Minister of Environment.

Sarwono said political development in Indonesia cannot be explained in terms of class. The ideology being fostered in this country, he said, is one that places emphasis on national unity.

Asked if the government was bent on depoliticizing the masses, Sarwono said this path of development was appropriate for Indonesia.

"The concept of a floating mass essentially means that people do not need to become members of political organizations unless on voluntary basis. Is that so bad? I don't think so."

Under the current concept, the people only become politically active every five years during the general elections.

Sarwono said the floating mass concept should be understood in terms of the existing political context. "People who question the concept do not understand this." (emb)