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.