Don't quit on `Reformasi'

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.