Entering an era of political operas

Entering an era of political operas

By Rochman Achwan

JAKARTA (JP): More than one year ago Abdurrahman Wahid, a
modern ulema, an advocate of tolerance and a reformist, was
democratically elected as Indonesia's fourth president. In the
early weeks of his presidency, many voiced a sense of optimism.

His vision of a vibrant civil society has been praised by
prodemocracy activists, and his dream of legal supremacy has won
the hearts and minds of advocates of clean governance.

As time went by, however, it was evident his vision and his
dream were not supported by either the institutional competencies
of his administration or himself. Indonesians sadly witnessed the
feebleness of the administration in coping with an unending
economic catastrophe, the task of strengthening law enforcement
and asserting justice.

In contrast to convincing recoveries experienced by South
Korea and Thailand, today the ship of Indonesia's political
economy is voyaging into unchartered waters.

The public arena as a forum for the search for justice and
salvation has dramatically changed into one of a political soap
opera.

Just as the soap operas aired daily by local television
stations leave spectators with unconstructive knowledge, so too
the political soap opera has not painted any meaningful progress
of political life, just false imagination.

It is ironic that in the midst of the rise of democratic
institutions, our society is witnessing the hollowness of these
institutions. The soap opera continues unabated -- as is shown in
the current "manhunt" for Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra.

After more than two weeks in the headlines, it is astonishing
that the offices of the attorney general and the police, with
their nation-wide networks of intelligence units, have failed to
capture him.

Tommy has become the household label for crony businesses and
is considered among the richest young tycoons in the country, and
even across Asia. The success or failure of capturing him will
surely affect the future of law enforcement and business
institution here.

Like a TV drama or sinetron, the soap opera of this manhunt
features prime actors, prosecutors, detectives, beautiful women,
concubines and, perhaps, a climax with a happy ending. On a rainy
Friday afternoon, after President Abdurrahman rejected Tommy's
plea for a presidential pardon, prosecutors and detectives came
to Tommy's house and knocked on his door to hand him a photocopy
of the President's letter of rejection.

Tommy's lawyers rejected it, arguing that by law their client
should receive the original. On the following Monday, the
prosecutors returned with detectives -- and the suspect was gone.

Inevitably questions arose, in this case about the
professionalism of the prosecutors and intelligence units, not
much different from an afternoon tea where housewives discuss
their telenovela.

In another "episode", detectives said they had searched high
and low all five-star hotels, the Soeharto family homes, luxury
resorts and restaurants, and even racetracks across the country.

Under the media spotlight, prosecutors continued with the
confiscation of Tommy's assets -- only to find that some were
legally owned by others, including his former lover, a well-known
singer and the holder of a Ph.D degree from a relatively unknown
overseas university.

Then his wife, a beautiful woman of the Surakarta aristocracy,
was summoned by police to provide information on her husband's
whereabouts. She said she knew nothing and that she had received
death threats aimed at her husband.

The "talented producer" of this soap opera knows very well how
to prepare good scenarios, plots and episodes. The gossip mill in
Jakarta logically predicted Tommy's former lover might soon be
summoned by the police.

It would not be entirely wrong to draw the conclusion that
this soap opera and its main actor will come to a "happy" end,
with Tommy not ending up in jail. Then one could correctly say
that law reform and law enforcement have become a real comedy,
painfully witnessed by millions in misery.

Proper and fair law enforcement -- besides regulating the
economy -- is a paramount role of state's everywhere. The modern
history of Indonesia's political economy is the history of the
state's failure to perform this role effectively and justly.

This failure propels the rise of political relations among
businesspeople, bureaucrats and politicians -- now termed
corruption, collusion and nepotism. No single country can recover
from an economic and political catastrophe if this "disease"
continues to grow.

This destructive political soap opera must stop once and for
all. Statesmanship must be called on from all politicians.
President Abdurrahman must also act as a statesman rather than a
narrow-oriented political leader, the way we once saw him before
he came to power.

Attorney General Marzuki Darusman must act not only as a
"technician" sticking to manuals, but also as a leader capable of
jailing the fugitive Tommy. His arguments about the search for
Tommy are almost similar to the arguments of New Order officials.
This is old wine in a new bottle!

Politicians in the House of Representative should spend less
energy on snapping at each other and summoning alleged
corrupters. Your paramount obligation is issuing proper, detailed
and fair laws in all walks of life.

Another obligation is to engage in the mediation of policy
formulations and implementations urgently needed to end the
crisis. Only then will Indonesians believe that the ship they are
aboard is sailing in the right direction.

Rochman Achwan, Ph.D is a senior lecturer in economic
sociology at the University of Indonesia (Rachwan@indo.net.id).