Indonesia at a critical moment

Indonesia at a critical moment

Patrick Guntensperger, Jakarta

It will be interesting to see how Indonesia's new president
and his cabinet address the issues that were contentious during
the campaign and that continue to plague the country now that the
mandate is confirmed. The people of Indonesia are entitled to
expect, indeed to demand, great things from Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono and his new government; palpable progress in the areas
of government corruption, environmental issues, education reform,
law reform, tax reform and other big ticket items will have to
made and seen to be made if democracy is to have a chance here in
Indonesia.

There are those who, during this time of uncertainty, look
fondly back on the days of the political strongmen, the days of
autocratic power in the hands of charismatic leaders. Yes, they
say, freedoms were curtailed. Certainly, individual liberty was
scarce. But there was a sense of security; life was predictable
and the uncertainty that surrounds us today wasn't a big part of
the picture.

Democracy therefore, to become the new paradigm, must be
accompanied by a noticeable improvement in the day-to-day lives
of the people of the country. Indonesia is now at the point
where, if those improvements do not occur and do not occur
quickly and in a very palpable way, the people may very well
reject the entire notion of democracy as a non-starter and relax
back into the comfort of paternalistic dictatorship.

The people must see that with true democracy come
improvements. The ringing tones of populist buzzwords like
liberty, equality and opportunity must be more than noble
concepts. The ideals are great and are definitely to be sought
after, but they must have tangible benefits.

If we have a democratically elected government but the law is
only there to protect the rich and well-connected, equality will
be nothing more than hot air. If we have a president who was
directly elected by the people but certain people are excluded
from consideration for jobs because of their ethnic or social
class, opportunity is nothing more than smoke and mirrors. If the
elections were peaceful and a government is formed as the result
of promises made, but government services are unobtainable
without a bribe, liberty does not yet exist.

Democracy in itself is not an ideal. It is only a way of
achieving the goals of liberty, quality, justice, opportunity
etc. Democracy is far from perfect morally, ethically or
practically, but it is the best hope we have for achieving the
goals we all want. But having said that, we must also grant that
it is the responsibility of all those who support democracy to
make it work.

Actual, real, visible change must be made or the anti-
democratic forces will prevail. If democracy only pays lip
service to the ideals we espouse while behind the scenes it's
business as usual and laws remain unjust, inequality reigns and
the suffering of the many is contrasted by the lavish wealth of
the empowered few, those who long for the days of security and
certainty can be forgiven.

For what good is democracy to anyone if the situation remains
the same except that there is an added level of uncertainty? For
this great democratic experiment to be successful, our new
government must make some serious inroads on the big issues. But
this also means that the smaller issues must not be ignored in
the face of the big picture.

While the upper levels of government are attacking the more
evident and egregious abuses in the judiciary, military, and
administrative aspects of the governance of this country, a great
deal of effort must be made at the real nuts and bolts level as
well. The government must not only look at the forest, it must
see the trees, if the people are to be convinced that democracy
is in fact the appropriate tool to fix what's amiss with their
lives.

The elimination of much of the paperwork that is required for
nearly every simple administrative detail of life in Indonesia
would be a good place to start. It is not being unduly cynical to
point to the obvious; much of the red tape is in place for no
other reason than to provide civil servants with more and more
opportunities to solicit graft. Needless delays are created by
the paperwork and those delays can always be circumvented with
the provision of a "tip" to the very person creating the
obstacles.

If those ingrained and universal aspects of administration in
Indonesia were reduced, let alone eliminated, the effects would
be palpable in people's daily lives. The effects would be
immediately noticeable and the population would start to believe
that maybe democracy is the right way to go. The side effect of
economic growth would be easy to spot as well, since the
impediment of the graft system is a major factor in the
retardation of Indonesia's development.

What the new government must see as its mandate is the
requirement that the people's lives actually improve in small but
noticeable ways as a result of honest, transparent and democratic
governmental processes. Anything less and this fragile experiment
can collapse like a house of cards. The situation is that
critical.

The writer, social and political commentator, can be reached
at ttpguntensperger@hotmail.com