Experts warn on future of democracy in the country

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The future of democracy in the country is in danger as civil society has been fading out of the public debates, a noted Muslim intellectual warned over the weekend.

Azyumardi Azra, rector of the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University, told a workshop in Surabaya that civil society was one of three prerequisites for democracy in the country and that Indonesia's peaceful transition to democracy would face significant difficulties and take longer without any discourse on civil society.

"This fading trend has raised many eyebrows. The period of transition over the past three years should have seen the discourse and practice of civil society grow stronger," Azyumardi said.

The other prerequisites for democracy were a strong government and solid economy.

According to Azyumardi, Indonesia still almost completely lacked a strong civil society and strong state authority, not to mention a strong economy, the three pillars necessary for democracy, even after the change of national leadership from Abdurrahman Wahid to Megawati Soekarnoputri last year.

He was afraid Indonesia would take longer to achieve democracy due to the unfulfilled conditions.

"Despite the apparent political stability, one can still witness the inability of the state to exercise authority in overcoming security disturbances and violence in different parts of the country," Azyumardi pointed out.

The professor called on civil forces like Nahdlatul Ulama, Muhammadiyah and non-governmental organizations to set up networks for the development of partnerships for concepts and programs for civil society empowerment.

The workshop, jointly organized by Surabaya's Airlangga University and the Straight Way Movement, was also attended by Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid, Muhammadiyah chairman Sjafii Ma'arif, Nahdlatul Ulama deputy chairman Solahuddin Wahid and former Association of Islamic Students chief Sulastomo.

Paramadina Mulya University rector Nurcholish Madjid expressed his conviction that Indonesia would come out of the crisis and find itself in a different position within 10 years as long as all national components maintained freedom.

"The nation must never be deprived of this freedom only due to excess, because everything in the world has its cost and it is the price we have to pay," he said.

Nurcholish added that the nation should be prepared to suffer for some time in order to achieve lofty ideals, and "unless we are ready to be bathed in perspiration, we will eventually be bathed in blood."

He expressed his concern about the apathetic response from some parts of society to the difficulties facing the country. He added that this indifference could endanger the existence of Indonesia as a nation.

Meanwhile, Sjafii said Indonesia lacked strong leaders who could lead the nation to sweeping reform directed at improving democracy here.

"Aside from their poor educational level, not to mention access to international literature, generally speaking they are still green," Sjafii said.

This basic weakness, he added, had resulted in the leaders' failure to rebuild the country, which had been struggling to emerge from economic crisis since 1997.

He noticed that some leaders were seasoned, but they had developed the corrupt, repressive and introverted mentality that was characteristic of the past.

There were also some leaders with a strong religious basis, but they tended to abuse religious teachings to pursue their own interests, Sjafii said.

"All these leaders have increased the problems we face. Who should we believe in, then?" Sjafii said.