Greater electoral chance sought for new leaders in 2004
Greater electoral chance sought for new leaders in 2004
Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia's restrictive political system should be changed to
allow new figures from outside the circle of the disappointing
political elite to rise to power, in a bid to cope with the
nation's leadership crisis, analysts say.
They also called on the media to play a role in helping the
crisis-battered country produce potential leaders by giving them
adequate publicity in order to increase their popularity with the
public.
As long-term measures to produce and prepare future leaders
eligible to govern the country, "leadership breeding grounds"
need to be created among community groups, they said.
Sociopolitical observer Fachry Ali said the electoral bill,
currently being deliberated in the House of Representatives,
should be revised to allow independent and nonpartisan candidates
to contest the direct presidential election scheduled for 2004.
The draft law banned any individuals from nominating
themselves for the next presidency but instead authorized
untrustworthy political parties to have the final say in the
selection of presidential candidates.
Critics say the bill will ensure that the next president would
likely come from within the current circle of power holders
despite rising criticism that they had ignored the public
interest.
"To review the bill, the media's role is badly needed to put
pressure on the government and the House to heed public
aspirations," Fachry said.
He said the exclusion of independent candidates from the
presidential election was irrelevant in a democratic country such
as Indonesia after four years of the reform era.
"The nomination of independent candidates is possible in the
U.S. and other western countries," added Fachry, director of the
Institute for Business Ethics Development and Studies (LSPEU)
Indonesia.
Many have claimed Indonesia was facing a prolonged leadership
crisis despite the first-ever direct presidential election in
2004, raising fears that the nation's prospects of securing a
better future will remain gloomy.
Two recent surveys -- one carried out by the Center for
Political Studies (CPS) and another by the Institute for Social
and Economic Research, Education and Information (LP3ES) --
showed that Indonesians could not identify any figure eligible to
lead the country after the 2004 election.
Based on the findings, most people considered President
Megawati Soekarnoputri, Vice President Hamzah Haz, People's
Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais and the House of
Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung as being unfit to retain
power.
Fachry and noted sociologist Imam Prasodjo said the surveys
indicated that the people were "longing for" qualified leaders
from outside the circle of the political elite.
Prasodjo said that to tackle this problem, a "collective
leadership" comprising national figures from various
sociopolitical organizations should be promoted.
"We also need to revive or empower leadership-producing
machines to prepare qualified leaders for the future. Currently
the machines are impeded by the domination of the bureaucracy and
the disorder of the political system," he said.
Fachry concurred with Prasodjo, saying that groups of
communities should be encouraged to identify new credible leaders
to take over the top state positions in 2004.
However, Fachry said the political reality would still
determine that most Indonesians would choose their president on
the basis of charisma.
Prasodjo said Indonesia needed no future leaders elected for
their charisma or traditional roots. "What we seek is a genuine
leader capable of inspiring the movement to resolve the problems.
He or she should not be part of the problem, nor contaminated by
the New Order regime."