Climate of freedom is needed

Climate of freedom is needed

By Hendrajit

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Finance Mar'ie Mohammad said
recently that Indonesia's burgeoning middle class will soon be
demanding more public accountability and good governance.

In a get-together with the Association of Indonesian Moslem
Students he said that these demands will in turn contribute to
the ongoing social transformation currently sweeping the country.

Mar'ie was quite sure that through its increasing critical
view of how the country should be governed and its more liberal
and vocal attitudes, the middle class will give a new look to
Indonesia's transformation process towards an industrialized
society. Accordingly, he said, those in power must be prepared to
face criticism. This insight is very enlightening indeed.

In many developing states, there has been a marked increase in
demands for democracy during the last couple of years. Democracy
has become a public issue. New pro-democracy groups have been
established and non-governmental organizations have become more
outspoken. Various middle class activists and intellectuals
demand more political freedom. More importantly, worker and
peasant groups are taking part in the struggle for democracy
through strikes and actions in connection with land disputes.

In other words, people want to participate in the decision
making process. They want to express their opinions about the
widespread practice of nepotism and monopoly, about government
projects that force people to be resettled with no compensation,
and about the need for press freedom.

Compared to the 1960s, there is now a substantial middle class
layer, although as a percentage of the total population it is
relatively still very small. It is, however, getting stronger
economically, and eventually politically as well. Despite the
fact that the New Order government has given this middle class
many things, this group also has dissatisfactions.

Firstly, nepotistic monopolies in the economy hurt many in the
business community. In spite of the deregulation measures
introduced by the government, there remain regulations that have
created too many business opportunities for an elite group of
high state officials.

A common thread running through development planning since
independence has been the allocation of resources by politicians
and bureaucrats. Business in Indonesia is still politically weak
compared to the government.

Though the business community is emerging as the most
significant economic middle class it still lacks the capacity to
significantly influence policy makers. Nepotistic monopolies hurt
not only big businesses, but those at the middle business level.

Successful new order economic policy has created an expanding
group of young professionals. They want a more liberal economic
policy that allows them to compete professionally. They press for
more economic deregulation as well as a reduced role of the
state. Their demands are becoming increasingly difficult to
suppress.

Secondly, the professionals, despite their increased standard
of living, see that the state bureaucracy is too powerful. The
power of the state has limited their freedom of expression, as
well as that of journalists, intellectuals and academics. They
need more democratic space

In their view, a strong civil society is a precondition for
democracy, in which all professional associations -- be they
journalists, advocates, intellectuals or academics -- can
independently promote their interests to the government. However,
the press, as one of the most influential sectors in civil
society, is still vulnerable because of government's unlimited
power to ban any newspaper, magazine, radio and TV station.
However, despite strict licensing procedures, the press can
influence government policies, to a certain extent, by mobilizing
public opinion.

At same time, society under the New Order is nearly bereft
of great plays, books and films. The production, marketing and
distribution of films is overregulated, while a national
censorship board keeps a close eye on the messages that films
bring to the audience. The quality of Indonesian movies has also
suffered because of government domination.

The extent of government intervention is noticeable in the
sharp drop in Indonesian film output. Only 32 films were produced
in 1992, a significant drop since the industry heyday in the
1970s when more than 100 titles were produced each year.

Academic life has been hard hit as well. The climate of
intellectual freedom that once was taken for granted by
Indonesian universities has become another victim of the security
approach. Because the current system of government does not
encourage open debate and openness, university deans are expected
to keep campuses free of politics. Professors critical of
Indonesia's development process or political system are denied
promotions. Classroom life is boring and uninspiring and student
apathy is common.

Mar'ie's emphasis on the Indonesian middle class as the
accelerator of democracy is not entirely correct. Democracy is
significant for both the worker and the peasant. Although their
standards of living have increased as the result of economic
growth, their lives are not getting easier. Many experience
difficulties obtaining employment, others have lost their jobs.

Many become the victims of development projects. In the case
of Kedung Ombo in Central Java or the Sampang incident in East
Java, the peasants were forced to give up their land or to sell
it very cheaply to private industrial estates. In short, peasants
are losing their land while people in the big cities working in
informal sectors like becak drivers and street vendors are losing
their jobs. Jakarta abolished the becak on the pretext of
modernizing the city and attracting more tourists. The Yogyakarta
municipal government prohibits street vendors from operate in
Yogyakarta along Malioboro.

A similar fate has befallen workers. Of all the foreign
criticism of human rights practices in Indonesia, none has
attracted the government's attention and concern more than the
exploitation of workers.

As a key component of the country's economic success,
Indonesian workers do not enjoy freedom of association, the right
to organize and bargain collectively. Furthermore, the government
has not adequately enforced minimum wage regulations. In the
meantime, the only recognized union in the country, the All-
Indonesia Workers Union Federation, is heavily controlled by the
government and poorly equipped to defend workers against
employers.

These people want to say something about government policies.
But in reality they are not politically organized due to the
government's successful control over almost all existing mass and
political organizations in the country. The New Order
administration, since its early days in 1966, has not allowed any
substantial change that could threaten its power.

Various forms of repression are still used against pro-
democracy activists who raise the people's grievances. The people
at the grassroots level have no effective political vehicle to
convey and defend their interests. The consequence has been a
loss of creativity and initiative.

If the trend continues for another 15 or 20 years, it could
spell trouble for the whole country. Indonesia must foster its
intellectual strengths by letting people say what they think
without fear. Indonesians must develop their critical faculties
so they can understand what is happening to themselves, to their
society and within the world.

Indonesians need a climate of freedom. A nation can only
advance with the creativity and initiative of all of its people.
The power center's obsession with harmony and consensus and its
unwillingness to tolerate dissent should be ended.

A new breed of Indonesians is steadily entering positions of
responsibility at all levels of society, replacing the older
generation. In this process, changes of outlook and priorities
are inevitable. The people will be more concerned with the
quality of stability that Indonesia's political framework
provides. The key problem is how to create mutual respect between
the national elite and the whole people in order to make
democracy possible.

The writer is a freelance journalist and political observer
based in Jakarta.

Window A: Indonesia must foster its intellectual strengths by
letting people say what they think without fear.

Window B: A common thread running through development planning
since independence has been the allocation of resources by
politicians and bureaucrats.