Disillusion rises of democracy stalls, says Demos study

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The development of Indonesian democracy after more than six years of transformation from an authoritarian regime has failed to usher in significant change in the country's political landscape, with corruption and power abuse still dominant, a study has found.

A preliminary report of a study by human rights watchdog Demos made available to The Jakarta Post recently found that after six years since the reform movement began, democratic institutions were weak and political corruption was on the rise, resulting in a "deficit of democracy".

The survey revealed that 90 percent of respondents were of the opinion that government officials were susceptible to corruption and abuse of power. "The same proportion of respondents also believed that the government could not free itself from interference from powerful interest groups," the survey said.

Ninety-one percent of respondents had the view that political parties, as the primary institution in a democratic political system, were involved in bribery and vote-buying and were also susceptible to influences exerted by powerful groups.

Contrary to a widely held assumption that the government would become more accountable to the public under a democratic political system, the survey found that 87 percent of respondents were of the opinion that the bureaucracy had poor accountability.

Demos interviewed 800 respondents, consisting of non- governmental organizations (NGO) activists, members of political parties and other politically conscious community figures across the country's 32 provinces as part of an ongoing project to measure the extent of democratic development.

The survey was supported by the Norwegian Embassy in Indonesia, the Swedish Agency for Development Cooperation (SIDA) and the Ford Foundation. A final report on the survey is expected to be issued in November this year.

Aside from the stifling of people's participation in the country's political system, corruption and abuse of power were the main characteristics of the autocratic regime of former president Soeharto before it was toppled by a popular movement in 1999.

Despite the bleak picture, Demos found that a large number of the respondents felt that their basic rights had been respected.

"Eighty percent of respondents believed that they could exercise the rights of free speech and association," the survey said.

Demos executive director Asmara Nababan said that although a new set of freedoms prevailed, justice and legal certainty, accountable governance and democratic representation were still poor.

"Most human rights instruments and institutions designed to support democracy have been dominated by the elite groups," he said, adding that prodemocracy activists were not yet capable of using the hard-won basic rights and democratic institutions to bring about more political changes.

In its recommendation, Demos said that the prodemocracy movement must press ahead with its agenda of improving the existing institutions that already worked well and demanding more basic rights to be honored.

"If democracy fails to generate immediate results, it doesn't mean it is not suitable for us," it said.