'Feudalism' rife in government, says Rudini

'Feudalism' rife in government, says Rudini

JAKARTA (JP): Noted political observer Rudini says "feudalism"
among top Indonesian government officials is hampering
democratization.

"A great number of our officials in the bureaucracy cannot
take criticism, and treat differences of opinion as proof of
disloyalty toward or rebellion against superiors," Rudini, who is
chairman of the Indonesian Institute for Strategic Studies, said
yesterday.

"The power elite prefers the status quo to change," he told a
seminar on national culture being held jointly by Indonesia's
five religious-based intellectuals' associations -- ICMI
(Moslems), ISKA (Roman Catholics), PIKI (Protestants), FCHI
(Hindus) and KCBI (Buddhists).

Yesterday's discussion was the second of the three-day
seminar, which was opened by President Soeharto. The seminar will
close today.

Rudini, known for his critical stance on many matters, said
that the actions of many public figures were inconsistent with
the "values of national culture" which the nation aspires to.

"The people's and the leaders' actions ... are not
democratic", he said, adding that this lack of democracy
persisted in spite of the fact that Indonesia has institutions
which should guarantee democracy. Among those institutions are
the five-yearly general election, the House of Representatives
and the People's Consultative Assembly, Rudini said.

The less-than-democratic nature of Indonesian society is
evident, he said, in "the too-centralized economic and political
power and a development process which is dictated from the center
(of power) and top down."

In his speech, Rudini discussed the conditions necessary for
greater democratization. He said that these included a reduction
in the dependence of social groups on the government.

In the economic sphere, this would mean greater privatization
and decentralization of management, he said. In politics, it
would take the form of greater attention to the "democratization
of life", he added.

"We have the complete structure and institutions for
democracy, but we do not act democratically," he said. "Our
national culture continues to be dominated by a 'servant's
culture', which is not conducive to democratization.

"People imbibed with servant's culture always obey orders;
they like the status quo, they like uniformity, and in general
they do not like innovations, do not dare to take risks by
seeking alternative ways," he said.

The question of culture is inseparable from "a system of
domination" as reflected in the political and economic culture,
he said.

Changing the situation would therefore require political will,
he said.

Elsewhere in his speech, Rudini said potential conflicts
arising from cultural differences could be controlled by
establishing the state ideology Pancasila as a common platform.

Pancasila consists of five principles: belief in one God,
humanity, unity, democracy and justice for all. (01)