Democracy and 'Javanization'

Democracy and 'Javanization'

Most observers were caught by surprise upon learning that
Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur) was elected chairman of the Syuro
(Legislative) Council of the National Awakening Party (PKB) and
Matori Abdul Jalil was elected to the party's Tanfidzi
(executive) board. They have also been prompted to ask whether
there is any difference between this appointment and the
appointment of Soeharto as chairman of the Board of Patrons of
the Functional Group (Golkar) as well as the election of the
chairman of its central executive board, with the election of
Akbar Tandjung being an exception.

If one reads the article by Donna Woodward (The Jakarta Post,
July 31, 2000, page 4), the answer to this question is in the
negative. Woodward is right to say that the change of government
has not changed the system. Only the personnel have changed. The
reform drive that the student protesters have brought about is
nothing more than an expression of hatred for Soeharto and is not
a drive against the authoritarian, hegemonic and feudalistic
political system that he developed. Abdurrahman, well known as a
person who is very concerned about democracy, has also failed to
be a real democrat for the party he founded.

The appointment of Matori Abdul Jalil could be taken as
Abdurrahman's attempt to make the PKB an open party. Whatever the
reason may be, however, the method and procedure for the election
was not in line with the principles of democracy. Michael
Vatikiotis (the Post, Aug. 2, 2000, p 4) is correct to say that
Abdurrahman is "a political animal with keen instincts, which
means we can't take his ideals for granted. Like his predecessor,
Soeharto, he consults the spirits of ancient kings of Mataram and
Majapahit, even the grave of the founding father Sukarno".

In Javanese culture, a leader is a deity incarnated. He is
appointed by God. The Javanese truly believe that pulung, a flash
of light which they believe gives one power, enables him to be
legitimized as a ruler. On the night before the election of a
village head, for example, the villagers will get together late
at night to see the direction taken by a pulung when it falls.
Abdurrahman's election as president has made the Javanese more
convinced that he is a God-appointed wali (pious religious leader
half way toward being a prophet). Logically, Megawati should have
been elected president. The members of the People's Consultative
Assembly (MPR) were simply a group of shadow puppets played by
God.

Therefore, if democracy is to be developed in Indonesia,
cultural de-javanization must be carried out. As a matter of
fact, the pioneers of our independence were well aware of this.
They opted for the Melayu language as the basis for the national
language. The then Javanese political leaders did not propose
that the Javanese language be adopted as the national language
although over 70 percent of the Indonesian population spoke the
language. They realized that the Javanese language was highly
feudalistic and was not compatible with the principle of
democracy, particularly the principle of equality or
egalitarianism. However, the process of cultural javanization
intensified as soon as Soeharto assumed power, particularly among
the bureaucrats. That's why corruption, collusion and nepotism
became rife in a very short time and has become too difficult to
eradicate now. In Javanese terminology, a bureaucrat is a piayi
(the king's younger brother) and as such must be respected and
deserves a tribute of sorts without having to account for it.

So, corruption, collusion and nepotism can be eradicated only
if the bureaucracy is culturally de-javanized. Unfortunately,
Abdurrahman is now repeating Soeharto's style and method. As a
result, it is becoming more difficult to establish a democratic
political system and the eradication of corruption, collusion and
nepotism is only lip service.

M. IKHSAN

Jakarta