'Govt aware of rising civil society'

'Govt aware of rising civil society'

As was the case during the run-up to past general elections,
suggestions on who should be the leaders of this country are
making headlines. Sociologist Arief Budiman notes that there is a
more important agenda to undertake for the sake of democracy than
hassling over who the nation's future leaders will be.

SALATIGA, Central Java (JP): When we talk about democracy, we
basically talk about people power. Democracy does not exist only
because there is legislation to limit state power and guarantee
the people's participation in decision-making. Although these
legislative acts are important, without people power, the state
can ignore them. So for those who want to fight for democracy,
the first thing on their agenda has to be people empowerment.

This applies to Indonesia as well. However, many people here
usually begin discussions on democracy with a question on "the
man behind the gun".

With an eye on the 1998 presidential election, the debate is
about whether Soeharto will continue to be president for a
seventh term, and whether Try Sutrisno will be replaced by
another military general or a civilian.

These factors seem to be considered as the most important
issues that will determine the prospect of democracy. Although
they are important, they will not mean much if we do not talk
about the existence of people power.

Has people power already existed in Indonesia?

My answer is yes, or at least it is emerging and becoming
stronger. The case of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) is
most telling.

It is quite clear that at one point last year, the government
wanted to replace then PDI chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri. So,
a political-cum-military operation was launched, and very
shortly, she was replaced by Soerjadi. The PDI headquarters was
taken over by force at the expense of some people's lives.

This "intervention" by the government was not the first. In
previous cases, the operations have always been successful. The
new leaders of the party backed by the government would survive,
and the ones that did not receive the government's blessings
would fade away.

However, the recent turn of events indicate otherwise.
Soerjadi was being opposed in almost every region, while
Megawati's popularity soared. She is still de facto leader of the
majority of PDI's members. Soerjadi was booed by thousands of a
soccer match audience in Senayan a few months ago and was almost
beaten up recently by the masses at a PDI rally in the East Java
town of Wonogiri. It is very clear that the people are
dissatisfied with the government's scenario and unlike
previously, they express their feelings openly.

The assassination of journalist Fuad Muhammad Syafruddin in
Yogyakarta after he wrote a report against corrupt practices
allegedly committed by a local regent is another case. The police
appear to have refused to question the regent, who theoretically
had a strong motivation to kill him. Instead, the police
allegedly tried to bribe somebody to admit to the killing.
However, the people, including the local journalists'
association, reacted strongly against the police. They set up
their own fact-finding committee, backed by the people. Together
with the National Commission on Human Rights, they continue to
contest the police version of the homicide.

Another case in point is the recent handshake between
President Soeharto and Abdurrahman Wahid, the leader of the
biggest Moslem organization in Indonesia, in an East Java town.

After his reelection as chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) in
December 1994, there had been a persistent effort to dethrone
him. President Soeharto had refused to meet him after the
reelection, fueling speculation that the government preferred
another person to lead the organization. In spite of all this,
Abdurrahman has succeeded in remaining in power.

There are more cases which demonstrate the rising power of the
civil society, but the ultimate one is this now famous handshake.
There was no talk among them, but symbolically, the handshake is
an important event. It tells many things.

First, it is clear that, in the wake of strong resistance
against the government's move over PDI, the government will not
be able to afford more resistance from NU. If NU and PDI join
hands to oppose the government, this will be too much to bear.
Consequently, there is no choice for the government but to court
NU to preserve political stability.

Second, it implicitly tells us about the failure of the
Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI) to control
the Moslem masses. ICMI has been set up to mobilize the Moslems
to support the government. To a great extent, ICMI has been quite
successful, but not enough. NU is still a stumbling block to
ICMI's moves.

Third, the handshake is also an implicit acknowledgement by
the government that political problems have become too
sophisticated and complex to be solved by military means alone.
The government seems to have learned a great deal in this
respect. The case of East Timor has demonstrated this: The more
military means are used, the worse will be the position of
Indonesia on the international political stage.

To sum up, it is difficult to deny that civil society in
Indonesia is emerging. The government, including President
Soeharto, has realized this and has acted accordingly.

True, the political rhetoric of many military officers is
still smacking of a security approach, but the above cases
indicate that the government is taking the pressure from below
more seriously.

If this is correct, we can say that something substantial is
happening: the emergence of people power. This phenomenon will
surely influence the post-1998 political scene. Whoever will be
in power, military or civilian -- or even President Soeharto
himself, if he is reelected -- he or she has to deal seriously
with this power from below. Democracy may not come instantly, but
it surely is emerging.

So, for the people who are concerned with democratization, the
main agenda is to strengthen civil society by empowering the
people. Betting on the personnel that will become the top
leadership of this country will not mean much if the people are
still powerless.

The writer is a sociologist and researcher based in Salatiga.