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).