Freedom Party promises to develop country with IT
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
For the newly established Freedom Party the figure of controversial former minister of cooperatives Adi Sasono, who is known for his obsession with a populist economy, remains the party's strongest selling point to woo voters in April's general election.
Adi Sasono, who served as minister of cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises, during President B.J. Habibie's 17-month administration until October 1999, is very firm in his conviction that the country's economy should be based on populist economic policies, to empower the people and enhance democracy.
He is, in fact very confident that such a people's economy is the sole answer for the democratization of the nation, although it generally receives negative reactions from the capital markets.
"Democracy will not work properly if there is no economic justice in society," Adi said during a visit to The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
Adi said he was accustomed to facing negative public perceptions about him. Some people describe him as anti-Chinese- Indonesian because of his strong advocacy to promote the pribumi (indigenous people), while others accuse him of being an overly fundamentalist Muslim who is anti-Christian. According to him, some Muslim groups even branded him an infidel.
"How can you say I am anti-Christian? My own in-laws are Catholics," Adi argued.
The Freedom Party chairman pointed out that his economic platforms emphasize the importance of linking SME businesses into a cluster of economic units. A small loan policy is an imperative element of sustaining economic development, where local banking is supposed to extend credit to rural farmers and entrepreneurs.
According to Adi, people-based economic principles can balance the economic situation in the country and hopefully lead to a true implementation of democracy.
Very similar to Habibie's vision, the former executive of the Indonesian Muslim Intellectual Association (ICMI) also believes that the country should develop its technological know-how, including Information Communication Technology (ICT), because the mastery of technology by the people is very crucial in upgrading the economy.
He said that new information technology in this country, such as the Internet made old organizational systems obsolete and inefficient.
"It's the same with economics right now. Previous principles such as conglomerate economic principles have become old- fashioned and inefficient."
The party has obviously seen what Malaysia and India have done in terms of information technology. They have seen that it creates opportunities for less-developed countries, such as Indonesia, to emerge and establish better nations by embracing the notion of an interlinked economy.
"When there is no party promoting this easy access of information as a public policy, our society will not develop. That is the reason why we established this party," Adi said.
The party also promotes distance learning using information technology. Rural youth finally will have the same access to research materials as their city counterparts have enjoyed. It will also help to curb migration to cities, which has been out of control for decades.
The party's political ambitions are moderate, but to be expected for a small, new party.
"We hope to get the minimum electoral threshold of 3 percent because we are still new," Adi said, referring to the amount of votes needed to be eligible to nominate a presidential candidate as well as becoming automatically eligible for the 2009 elections.