Hunger brings political apathy to nation
Hunger brings political apathy to nation
By Asip A. Hasani
YOGYAKARTA (JP): At the height of student protests in May,
Gadjah Mada University rector Ichlasul Amal distinguished himself
as a strong supporter of the proreform movement.
Nearly six weeks after the protests helped bring down
president Soeharto, Amal reflected on developments which have
transpired on the political scene, particularly prospects for
coming elections.
Question: Has Habibie's administration so far been considered
successful in fulfilling the popular demand for reform and
democratization?
Answer: Indeed, we may say that Habibie's becoming president
was inevitable as there was then no other choice.
What is more important now is that his legitimacy depends on
his acceptability to the people. In fact, the people do not
really care who is their leader. What counts more to them is
whether in the short term they can be saved from the threat of
starvation, which is now looming as a result of the crisis of
basic commodities, or whether they can have a better life. If
Habibie can make this come true, then he will have stronger
legitimacy. Whether or not his legitimacy is constitutional will
then no longer be a problem.
Q: What do you think about what Habibie's administration has done
so far?
A: I'm actually disappointed with what his ministers in economic
and industrial areas have done.
Take Pak Ginandjar, for example. He said the government could
not do anything unless there was political stability. This goes
back to what he must do as a coordinating minister of economic
and industrial affairs. At least he must think about what he must
do.
Q: But hasn't Habibie shown his commitment to the demand for
reform by allowing political transparency, a phenomenon welcomed
with the establishment of many new parties?
A: What we must bear in mind is that parties should not be
established on the basis of emotion or because of an urge to find
an opportunity to benefit from political openness, for example in
order that one may join the Cabinet or get a certain position.
Unless great care is exercised, this openness, which is an
opportunity to establish a civil society, will simply be a
mirage. So, let's welcome cool-headedly this openness and the
good intention showed by the Armed Forces to review their social
and political role. Let's not get emotional and let's continue to
devote our attention to "people's stomachs".
Q: Do you think these parties enjoy popular support?
A: The trouble is that those wishing to establish these parties
are the elites, not the grass roots. It's a little strange here.
The elites are emotional while the people are most concerned
with whether they can eat tomorrow or can immediately have jobs
again.
Therefore, I'm afraid that these many parties will not be
effective in the general election. A fairly good general election
will require the participation of 25 percent of the total
population. I'm afraid in the next election this 25 percent
cannot be reached because many people may have turned apathetic
and devoted most of their attention to food problems. Once again,
all parties must prioritize people's economic problems while, of
course, political consolidation toward the establishment of a
civil society will continue to be implemented.
Q: How many parties should Indonesia ideally have in its
multiparty system?
A: In my opinion, the number does not quite matter. This is
basically only the beginning, sort of a test case.
However, this party system must be followed with quotas. It
means that if a party joins the general election but fails to
collect, for example, 5 percent of the total votes, this party
must stop being one. So, there is a sort of requirement, but this
will be seen only after the election process starts. This will
naturally limit the number of parties. In 1955, no quotas were
introduced with the result that there were too many parties.
Q: Who will determine the size of the quota and how big is it
ideally for Indonesia?
A: This quota will be determined jointly. In Germany, the quota
is 5 percent while in Israel 1 percent. A quota of 10 percent
will be too big, I think, because a party based on the minority
will find it difficult to reach the quota. In fact, it is
important to accommodate the minority.
As for an ideal size of a quota, of course we must calculate
this carefully. If the quota is 5 percent, for example, there
will be too many parties which can easily meet this. Ten percent
will be difficult for a minority party to meet. So, perhaps, the
ideal figure is 7 percent.
Q: What factors do you think will determine the victory of a
party in the coming general election?
A: Established social infrastructure like that which Nahdlatul
Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah have secured.
However, the problem is that those having established social
infrastructure are based on religion. In fact, we do not quite
like this, do we?
Q: What do you think of the prospects of the Golkar functional
group in the coming election?
A: It is obvious that Golkar will have nothing. It is impossible
for Golkar to achieve anything because it has been very much
dependent on the figure of Pak Harto. So when it was suggested
that Pak Harto should be separated from the board of patrons,
Golkar showed that it was at a loss.
The picture is like this: Golkar cannot elect its own general
chairman, let alone elect a president in a session of the
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).
Golkar is very much dependent on Pak Harto. When Pak Harto is
no longer the president, all infrastructure of Golkar will be
finished. I believe Golkar's votes in the coming general election
will drop sharply.
Q: The name of Golkar itself?
A: As there is a demand for total reform, everything smacking of
the New Order, like the name of Golkar, will be scrapped. Perhaps
it will later call itself the Indonesian Functional Party.
Q: What about the United Development Party (PPP)?
A: PPP may well maintain its existence. The problem is that if
Amien Rais decides to establish a new party, how many PPP members
will move to Amien Rais' party?
The same holds true if NU becomes a party. And the same
phenomenon will occur if the others, who have so far supported
PPP in terms of votes, follow suit. In this case, PPP will also
greatly decline.
Q: What of prospects for Megawati Soekarnoputri?
A: She has a chance. It must be kept in mind, however, that
Megawati became so popular and great because she had opponents,
Soerjadi, for one.
Then the oppressed people in the lower social classes, like
workers, joined Megawati's camp. But now workers can set up their
own workers' party.
Q: Some people are apprehensive that a multiparty system will
result in an unstable political situation, as occurred during the
Old Order era, a situation which will justify the Armed Forces'
taking over political control...
A: True. if the situation gets really out of hand, the military
must take control.
The Armed Forces may not be able to overcome the economic
problems that the nation is facing but at least the military may
find justification to take control.
But there are at least two things which may reduce this worry.
First, the military must be aware that this poor situation is
the result of their own prior support of Soeharto. It means that
it is the noncivilian government that has brought about the
present crisis. So if the civilians later fail to handle
political affairs, their failure is to be attributed to the very
bad situation they have inherited from the New Order government,
which was noncivilian. A fair judgment is required here.
Second, it won't be that easy for the military to assume
political domination over civilians because the circumstances now
are different from those in 1950s. They are also different from
the circumstances in 1965-1966. At that time, it was clear that
the enemies were the forces of the Indonesian Communist Party,
but now we are facing economic problems and these problems cannot
be solved with weapons. That's why the Armed Forces will
immediately hand over the administration to civilian hands again
if it is beyond them to solve economic problems.