Immature political elite slows reforms

Immature political elite slows reforms

Conflict-ridden leadership, like that which can be seen in the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, is a common phenomenon in Indonesia. Amir Santoso takes a look at the issue.

JAKARTA (JP): The rift-ridden election of the chairman for the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) increased my belief that Indonesia remains a long way from democracy. The internal rift in this organization typifies the conflicts reflecting a lack of maturity among the leadership elite found in many social and political organizations.

One of the pre-conditions for democracy is maturity and respect for organizational procedures and the rights of other people. I think that many Indonesians today view democracy as meaning a fight for rights and demands. Clearly, the immaturity of many of the political elite is the prime cause of the nation's somewhat stunted democratization process.

I have been quoted by a number of newspapers, in response to a remark made by a German professor from Humboldt University, as saying recently that the democratization process in Indonesia has been smooth. The professor had said that the democratization process in Indonesia was not running smoothly due to the small number of people in the middle class. I shared the professor's opinion, but said there has been a remarkable increase in the number of people in the middle class over the last 30 years. Also, the situation today is much better than that in the 1970s and 1980s. I mean there has been step by step progress in the democratization process.

The number of secondary school and university graduates has increased significantly although it is still small compared to the total population. In terms of political position, the majority of the nation's top intellectuals have been absorbed into the bureaucracy, thereby compromising their political independence. Economic growth has resulted in a substantial number of businessmen but their number is insufficient to constitute a middle class in the business sector.

At the same time many of the new businessmen are categorized as erzat and crony capitalists in the sense that the continuation of their activities is dependent on government projects and facilities. This makes them vulnerable to government intervention. But I believe that the number of middle class people in all sector who have political freedom will continue to increase because no power can hamper the expansion of the middle class.

A weak middle class is reflected in the fact that our society is not egalitarian, but is, instead, a mainstay of feudalism. The position of bapak (father) and government, under such a feudal culture, is strong. Thus, the heavy dependence of society, including social and political organizations, on the government reflects this situation. The common practice among political organizations of asking blessing from the government for their activities does not arise solely from the error of the bureaucracy. It occurs mostly because of the feudalistic character of society itself.

Another reason why the democratization process does not proceed as smoothly as it should is because of the existence of poverty among such a large segment of society. Democracy cannot grow healthily when the majority of the population still lives in poverty. For the poor, the important thing is not democracy, or freedom of speech, but how to survive the day.

A demonstration by poverty stricken laborers does not have democracy as its immediate aim, but rather focuses more on demands for better conditions in the workplace. Change of government may occur through the demonstration, but this offers no guarantee that democracy will emerge. The move toward democracy will grind to a halt if there is no political education, nor the opportunity to have a true life experience with democracy. An educational system that puts too much emphasis on submission and that curtails critical thinking will create only robots.

The last reason for the slow growth of democracy in Indonesia is the lack of experience which is closely connected with an immature attitude. Without any experience in democracy everyone will behave in a less than democratic manner. The leadership rivalry in many organizations, such as the Nahdlatul Ulama, the Indonesian Democratic Party, the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation and the Satya Wacana University, is illustrative of the above factors existing among people who speak of democracy every day.

These conflicts are not caused by government intervention as many believe, but are mainly due to the undemocratic attitude of the elite of the those organizations.

The conflicts have always started from charges of cheating during the leadership election processes in the parties, organizations and universities.

These accusations were made by those who lost in the contests. This only goes to show that an undemocratic attitude is quite widespread in Indonesia, especially among leaders of organizations.

Hence, I don't share the idea of those who believe that democracy will only be developed in Indonesia through restructuring of the political system, or even by changing the political system.

I believe that democracy will be developed only through political education and the opportunity to practice democratic procedures in everyday life.

The writer is a lecturer in political science at the University of Indonesia and Jayabaya University.