Habibie's vision
In his state of the nation address on Saturday, President B.J. Habibie publicly elaborated for the first time on where he thinks Indonesia should be heading in the coming years. He used the occasion to share with the rest of the nation his vision of a civil society, a society that he defines as just, open and democratic. A society which is free of prejudices, and with a sociopolitical system that is transparent, effective and one that reflects the people's sovereignty. A society in which freedom of expression, including that of the press, is not only guaranteed, but is also deemed essential in providing effective social controls to prevent practices of collusion, corruption, cronyism and nepotism, and, therefore, to help ensure an honest and clean government.
Habibie also provided a road map of how Indonesia should reach the goal of a civil society. He proposes a new paradigm which is very different from the one that has been used for the past 32 years. Essentially, he wants a paradigm that uses democratic and welfare approaches, one that underlines transparency and a bottom-up mechanism. This is in contrast to the present paradigm, where stability is the main overriding concern to ensure a powerful central administration needed to govern this diverse and huge archipelagic state. As part of this road map, he proposes a revision of the sociopolitical role of the Armed Forces. He did not say it in so many words but essentially, this means a reduction in the military's political role, which has been dominant, if not overbearing, under the last regime.
And Habibie already has an action plan. He has set in motion his reformation agenda, from the revision of the political laws to the holding of a general election in May next year, and the presidential election by the end of 1999. He may appear to be still fine-tuning his economic concept but at least he has rightly recognized that the key to solving the economic crisis is in restoring confidence, not only of foreign creditors and investors but of the Indonesian people themselves.
Habibie has a vision, a road map and an agenda. One could also argue that in the brief period since he became President, Habibie has done a number of things to put the nation on the path to a civil society. They include the long-overdue admission and apology for the administration's past atrocities in dealing with separatist movements in the regions, and his decision to release some political prisoners.
Few people would argue against his vision of a civil society, much less his proposal for a new paradigm. The rest of the world is already moving toward civil society and Indonesia must jump on the bandwagon now if it wants to remain a respected member of the global community.
Habibie could have done, and should have done, a lot more, if only to convince the public of his intentions to build a civil society. For example, he could have released all the political prisoners, rather than freeing them batch by batch. Not only is he falling short in terms of his actions, he is also sending the wrong signals that raise serious doubts about his sincerity toward his own reformation agenda, much less his civil society vision, if indeed this is his vision and not that of his speech- writers.
His decision to confer the Bintang Republik Indonesia Adipradana meritorious services star on his wife Ainun Habibie, and the Mahaputra Utama star on his brother J.E. Habibie, has undermined what little credibility he has in the public eye, for it clearly smacks of nepotism. Even if they have fulfilled the formalities needed to receive the stars, as claimed by the administration, Habibie could have waited until next year. At least his predecessor Soeharto, for whom nepotism is his middle name, waited five years before conferring the star on his wife. Habibie's decision to push the bill regulating freedom of expression and his proposal to license working journalists also raised doubts about his commitment to democracy and freedom of the press. There were other times when Habibie showed his inconsistencies but these three are the most glaring.
His state of the nation address left a deep impression of a great visionary leader in the making. But while long on vision, Habibie is not only very short on action, he has also given the impression of an erratic leader. If only he was more consistent between words and deeds, he could elicit the much needed public support to restore credibility and confidence in his leadership.