Economic democracy

Economic democracy

In the context of the first long-term development cycle (1969-
1994), the matter of the implementation of the principles of
economic democracy contained in Article 33 of our Constitution
has been a frequent subject of discussion among economic
observers and legal experts.

This is caused among other things by the existence of
different interpretations. Therefore the general impression has
been that those principles are not entirely being put into
practice. It is often said that a shift has occurred in the
interpretation of our principles of economic democracy, which
dictates that a state of welfare should be attained for all.

Such differences in interpretation are made possible by the
fact that there are no clear-cut formal definitions of what we
understand by the phrase "fields of production that are important
to the state and control the livelihood of the people". It is
generally understood that these sectors, whatever they are, must
be controlled by the state.

It is odd that although we are against the system of free-
flight liberalism because it is contrary to our principles of
economic democracy, we do not have any law capable of countering
the tendency for economic power to become concentrated in the
hands of individuals.

At present it is becoming more and more unclear which "fields
of production that control the livelihood of the people" must be
controlled by the state and which ones can be run by private
business.

-- Suara Pembaruan, Jakarta