Hope amid concerns

As the year draws to a close, Indonesians are looking toward the new year -- and a dawning new millennium -- with justifiable hope. True, a host of problems and uncertainties remain to becloud the new vista of civic liberties that has emerged from under the debris of the collapsed authoritarian and corruption- ridden New Order regime of president Soeharto and its brief extension under president B.J. Habibie.

Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that much has been achieved during that span. In the year that is about to elapse, Indonesians passed a major milestone in their 54 years of independence by holding their first truly free general election in more than half a century.

As a result, Indonesia now has its first-ever democratically elected President and Vice President leading a government that is committed not only to furthering the cause of democracy, but to eradicating, or at least to laying the groundwork for eradicating once and for all, the country's tangled and expansive web of bureaucratic corruption, collusion and nepotism.

As they slowly and falteringly proceed on this new and unfamiliar road, Indonesians are learning that the proper practice of democracy is something that has to be learned. On the one hand, President Abdurrahman's widely published and much resented remark about the national legislature, the House of Representatives, resembling a "kindergarten" exemplifies his government's dissatisfaction over the quality of debates in the House.

Legislators, on the other hand, have on occasion aired their dissatisfaction over the government's performance, which many consider to be moving too slowly and too hesitantly in bringing about the democratic reform demanded by the people. But given the fact that President Abdurrahman Wahid has been in power just a little more than two months, not even the most relentless critic can reasonably deny that much progress has been made in the past year.

Unlike previous governments, President Abdurrahman Wahid's Cabinet has so far never been known to disregard criticism, either from the public or from members of the House. Members of the House, for their part, no longer hesitate to take the initiative in discussing matters of public import. Steps are being taken to revamp the judiciary and make it independent from the executive. In short, real efforts are being made to implement the principle of trias politica -- the separation of powers -- in Indonesia.

Achievements aside, the undisputable fact remains that Indonesia continues to struggle under problems that appear almost too big for any government to handle. On the economic front, the government is moving to bring order to the financial ruin left by the corrupt New Order regime. Obviously, given the extent of the devastation, it is a painful effort that will take years -- some say, decades -- to accomplish.

On the social and political fronts the problems are no less daunting. Injustices -- physical, social and economic -- have fed the secessionist sentiments of large sections of the population in several areas, such as Aceh and Irian Jaya, and to a lesser extent in Riau, East Kalimantan and elsewhere. Sectarian violence is disrupting life in several regions, notably Maluku, though on occasion similar cases of unrest flare elsewhere in this country, even in areas close to the capital, Jakarta.

Little wonder, perhaps, that speculation has been rife lately of a possible return, by whatever means, of the old authoritarian system, which at least on the surface seemed to work in the past. It would be pathetic, of course, if current problems and pressures led Indonesians to so easily forget the lessons of the recent past. It may be true that democracy can be clumsy in operation. Still, it is the only system by which fatal mistakes can be avoided by the public exercising control over policymakers.

This being the case, the only appropriate stand for Indonesians to take under the circumstances is to exercise some patience while remaining firmly committed to the ideal of true democratic reform.