Establishing a tradition of democracy

Establishing a tradition of democracy

By Bramantyo Prijosusilo

YOGYAKARTA (JP): To date, not one incident of state brutality
which spilled citizens' blood has been brought to justice in a
manner that satisfies the people's sense of right and wrong or
fairness.

This suggests that the Indonesian Military (TNI) is either
reluctant or unable to reform its culture of violence which was
so successful in crushing the communists three decades ago.

The same vile method of political cleansing has been the
standard procedure that the people of Indonesia have come to
expect from their military. The method was applied against
dissents throughout the New Order and is just recently being
questioned. Lately, the military has been making gestures that
signify it wants to reform, but the old ways are hard to change.

The amok released by military supported militias in East
Timor after the recent ballot illustrates the point. The whole
East Timor debacle, from the start, was an orchestration of
systematic lies Indonesians were subjected to by the West in a
cold war frame of mind, working through the New Order's
"development" vision.

The Indonesians' reaction to the UN intervention in Timor, as
opposed to the government's, is the consequence of systematic
misinformation. The anger and hurt expressed in extreme cruelty
and brutality, of which the ballot's result stimulated, shows the
price of manipulation.

That is why now, with the country facing many grave problems,
many people are struggling to create an open and honest
democratic tradition.

There are also substantiated fears that the current events in
Indonesia could lead to a violent disintegration of the country.
Within this context it is very important that the members of the
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) realize that we aspire to
create not only a new government, but also a tradition of
democracy.

Indonesians would like to see the Assembly solve the problem
of choosing a president and forming an effective coalition to
govern the country through the next five years.

An interesting question to ask at this moment is, should we
make it a tradition that the winner of the general election be
elected president by the Assembly?

It is obvious in the maneuvers by the ambitious presidential
candidates and their supporters that they do not think the figure
chosen by people through the ballot must necessarily be the
elected president.

Surely Megawati Soekarnoputri, the leader of the winning
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), is
being hastily elbowed out of the presidential race within the
MPR. The tradition of democracy that we are building is a
tradition that is based on our constitutional texts and our
customs of deliberation.

The requirements of the Constitution are always formally
fulfilled, but a democratic spirit and common sense are often
ignored. Supporters of Megawati are worried that she and her
party will be pushed aside by the politicking of smaller parties
that did not win the most votes in the general election.

If that happens, we can expect a new government that is only
interested in its own power. It seems more likely to happen as
each day of the MPR's session reveals that the elite is more
interested in power sharing than in the representation of the
aspirations of the public.

We can expect more lies and misinformation at the expense of
the people for the continuation of the regime.

Megawati's main rival is Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, the
founder of the National Awakening Party (PKB). There is a strong
chance that Gus Dur will win. Megawati's gender has been made an
obstacle in light of the Islamic tradition of choosing a male
leader over a leader from the other sex.

This idea might dominate the minds of the Muslim majority of
700 honorable members of legislature. The addition of the
perception that Megawati is feudal and slow might even let them
forget that most Indonesians who voted for PDI Perjuangan in the
June elections are Muslims.

They voted PDI Perjuangan with full knowledge that the party
would nominate Megawati for president. Gus Dur also gave the
impression that he would support Megawati. The constituents who
voted for PKB were also under the impression that their candidate
for president would be Megawati.

The election of a president other than Megawati is not
something that will violate a law, but it will be a violation of
the aspirations of the people who expressed their choice through
a vote for PDI Perjuangan or PKB last June.

Gus Dur has been for a long time one of the most loved,
trusted and admired personalities in the Indonesian political
scene. Lately, he has been working on the fact that Amien Rais,
leader of the National Mandate Party (PAN) and other groups are
nominating him for president. If this continues, the world can
expect Gus Dur to be Indonesia's next president.

Maybe this would be a good thing as there are many advantages
that come to mind, but it could also mean that we all lose
out. First, we will not start a tradition in which the winner of
the most votes in an election becomes president.

Every five years this will create tension and instability
between the day of the general election and the election of
president by the Assembly. The time lapse in the representation
of the people's aspirations makes the system vulnerable to money
politics and orchestrations of violence as we have all witnessed.
It would be a great favor to future generations of Indonesians if
the current MPR set a democratic tradition that was more direct
and less vulnerable to manipulation.

Second, we will no longer have a member of society who has the
integrity and humanity to stand up to the state machine. Gus Dur,
as a member of society, has the courage, power, sophistication, a
healthy sense of humor, common sense and a love of truth, justice
and people to challenge the state when it misbehaves. To build a
tradition of democracy, the country needs more people like this.

The writer is poet/artist who lives in Yogyakarta.