Don't quit on `Reformasi'

It was exactly five years ago today that then president Soeharto made a decision that would mark an important milestone in the history of modern Indonesia. His decision to quit the presidency, in the face of mounting public pressure, ushered in what the nation calls Reformasi, or the reform era.

It also marked the end of Soeharto's tyrannical 32-year rule, an era that was marked by rapid economic progress but little else, and rampant corruption that not only ultimately brought the nation to the edge of bankruptcy, but also caused Soeharto's own downfall.

As we commemorate the fifth year of Reformasi today, it is valid to ask what we have achieved thus far, especially given the sacrifices that we, or some of us, made to make this change possible.

We need to ask this question because there is much despondency among the people because of the lack of progress of Reformasi. So much so that many people are already willing to call it a day, and some are even calling for a return to the "good old days of Soeharto".

Understandably, most people measure Reformasi in terms of how it has impacted on them. Have their lives gotten better in these last five years? If this is the only measure of success, then many people have the right to feel disappointed.

It is fair to say that for the majority of Indonesians, life has not gotten better. Millions more people are out of work today and millions more have fallen into poverty. Even most salaried, middle-class people have not seen their real income levels return to anywhere near where they were five years ago.

For people in conflict zones like Aceh, Papua, Maluku, Central Sulawesi and parts of Kalimantan, the last five years have brought misery, as the government has failed to ensure law and order and to protect their lives and property. Crime rates have also risen across the nation, including in Jakarta.

If Reformasi has afforded the nation the right to freedom of expression and the right to form associations, it has miserably failed to protect the people's right to freedom from poverty and fear.

Many people would trade a little of their freedom for a little more prosperity and security; hence the longing for a return to a Soeharto-type ruler we now hear from some people.

Given the failure of the past five years to improve our lives, should we abandon Reformasi?

No, if we look at Reformasi as a process for laying the foundations for a more humane civil society in this country.

Civil society must be seen as a package that offers our nation a life in which all our freedoms are guaranteed as we advance and prosper. In civil society, democratization and economic development must move in tandem if they are to be lasting, or at least sustainable. We cannot have one without the other.

We know from our experience under the Soeharto regime that economic development without democracy is not sustainable. We also know from other countries' experiences that democracy alone does not guarantee economic prosperity.

Reformasi must therefore be seen as the means by which this nation marches toward civil society. It is a process, and one that involves a lot of learning by trial and error. Today, we are still at the bottom of that very long learning curve.

Seen in terms of building a civil society, we have made some progress these last five years; not a lot, but enough to keep alive the hope that a civil society will take root in Indonesia.

Reformasi was a huge undertaking that this nation embarked on five years ago, because we knew we had no other option. We needed to reform our political system, its institutions and its culture; and at the same time, we also needed to reform the economy, the legal system and decentralize the government.

As if these problems were not complicated enough, we also have had to deal with very powerful forces with strong vested interests in keeping alive the status quo.

These forces have flexed their muscles to try and stop our march toward civil society. And at times they seem to be winning the war. The military campaign launched in Aceh is the clearest example of how the civil society camp has lost its grip. The fact that the majority of the nation supports the military operation in Aceh, an operation that violates the principles of civil society, tells us that the spirit of Reformasi is waning among the people of this country.

Despondent at this huge setback? Definitely, but it is no reason to throw in the towel on Reformasi.

Let's not quit just yet. We owe it to ourselves, and to those who gave their blood, sweat and tears to make Reformasi possible five years ago, to keep moving forward.