Indonesia needs transformational leaders

Indonesia needs transformational leaders

By Aleksius Jemadu

BANDUNG (JP): Democracy will be reduced to being its own worst
enemy if politicians continue to treat it as merely a matter of
power politics. As we move closer to the annual session of the
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) in August, political elite
are increasingly preoccupied with a political drama the plot of
which is simply -- to quote Harold Lasswell's definition of
politics -- "who gets what, when and how".

The leaders tend to alienate themselves from the very source
of their legitimacy, the people. Rarely, if ever, have they
focused their attention on the discussion of how to develop an
overall strategy to solve the nation's ills.

It is no wonder that until now Indonesia has not yet developed
any clear strategy other than succumbing to those imposed by the
International Monetary Fund (IMF).

While the cumulative amount of foreign debt increases, nobody
knows how and when the nation can pay it back.

The detention of Bank Indonesia Governor Sjahril Sabirin, by
the Attorney General's Office is a case in point. Sabirin was
named a suspect in the politically charged Bank Bali scandal. The
actions and statements of some political leaders following
Sabirin's detention have led many to conclude that this is not a
legal matter but rather a political one.

Amien Rais, the Assembly Speaker, for instance, in apparent
criticism of President Abdurrahman Wahid argued that Sabirin's
detention amounted to political intervention by the government in
the affairs of the central bank.

The politicization of Sabirin's detention illustrates a
yawning gap between two kinds of logic. The first is that of the
political elite who tend to confound the legal process with their
political maneuvers, losing sight of the supremacy of law in the
process. The second is the logic of the common people yearning
for genuine respect for the law.

Instead of facilitating a badly needed stable democracy, the
political elite have turned out to be a serious obstacle to the
realization of that goal.

To make things worse, there seems to be a positive correlation
between enmity among them and the escalation of conflicts based
upon religious and ethnic affiliation in areas like Maluku, Aceh
and Papua.

Another serious constraint in this regard is a perilous lack
of sincerity and honesty. The politicians who strongly supported
the election of Abdurrahman Wahid last year have turned out to be
his most dangerous protagonists, especially in the lead up to the
MPR annual session.

Indonesia can never hope to create a a stable democracy if its
political elite continue to concentrate on their partisan short-
term interests at the expense of national long-term goals.

A glance at the United States reveals a sharp conflict
of ideas and policies as between Republicans and Democrats.
However, it seems that American political leaders always manage
to achieve a high level of consensus on certain core political
values such as liberalism, egalitarianism and the rule of law.

If Indonesians aspire to develop a stable democracy, their
political leaders should be able to provide transformational
leadership both at the national and the institutional level.
Transformational leadership may be defined as leadership which
stresses the willingness and capability of a leader to induce
change based not so much on his or her own values or interests,
but those of his or her followers or constituencies.

The standard measurement of the success of this kind of
leadership is whether a change benefits at least the majority, or
just strengthens the position of a leader.

One writer, Richard L. Hughes, says: "Transformational leaders
are not only good at appealing to followers' values, but they are
also adept at reframing issues so that they are aligned with the
leader's vision and followers' values, teaching followers how to
become leaders in their own right, and inciting them to play
active roles in the change movement."

It is no exaggeration to suggest that in Indonesia today there
are more power-wielders than transformational leaders. The former
is precisely the opposite of the latter.

Another writer, James Mac Gregor Burns, wrote that power-
wielders are "those individuals who marshal resources and
influence followers to behave in such a way as to accomplish
their own personal goals or to satisfy personal needs". It is
also said that power-wielders tend "to see followers as things or
objects to be manipulated, rather than individuals".

We leave it to Abdurrahman, or Gus Dur, Amien Rais, Akbar
Tandjung and other Indonesian politicians to make an honest
judgment of just what kind of leaders they are.

The writer is a lecturer in the School of International
Relations at the Parahyangan Catholic University in Bandung, West
Java.