Indonesia still fighting uphill battle

By Rahayu Ratnaningsih

JAKARTA (JP): The election has been carried out enthusiastically, peacefully, and relatively successfully -- something that Indonesian people can feel proud of for a change. The results have been validated, despite 27 minor parties' refusal to endorse them. Megawati Soekarnoputri, chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) has delivered her long-awaited speech. What comes next depends largely on the actions of our political elite; the individuals that have been accorded a political mandate from the people to represent their aspirations.

Early unhealthy signs of combativeness among them have led a majority of Indonesian people to shake their heads in frustration. This frustration is also manifest in the woeful deviation of the current regime from its own boastful promises of delivering a morally acceptable governance, as distinct from that of its predecessor.

Habibie's administration owes explanations to the people about many unresolved cases, which were deliberately pursued half- heartedly. The cases range from the military's human right abuses to alleged corruption involving subordinates of Habibie, and the alleged misdeeds of the former first family. The President, instead, issued cosmetic statements and announcements that lacked any substantial follow-up action. The President acknowledged corruption in the government and state enterprises (issues people were already conversant with), and announced plans to set up various "independent" commissions to deal with issues from investigation of official's wealth, to Aceh's grave case, to obliteration of corruption, collusion and nepotism (locally known as KKN). In the past, such commissions have proven to be toothless and a waste of time and money (just look what happened to the commission that investigated the May riots and which announced its findings late last year.)

Why bother with such lofty ideals when the President seems to have a hard time seeing existing problems in front of his very eyes. The continued uncertainty surrounding the Ghalib and Cendana clan alleged corruption allegations and the bizarre acquittal of Nurdin Halid and Beddu Amang, both of whom were government officials, from all corruption charges, can be cited as just a few examples in the administration's stonewall tactics. Habibie, instead, has, in a not very subtle way, been diverting people's attention to the pursuit of what are perceived as politically engineered corruption cases involving businessmen Arifin Panigoro and Sofyan Wanandi, and the ludicrous investigation of pornography cases.

The public's only hope is for Indonesia to have a completely new government as soon as possible. Unfortunately, it would appear that this poor nation is trapped in the hands of machiavellian creatures, who previously stifled it for 32 years. The situation is not unlike the condition of Sisyphus, the mythical Greek character forever condemned to push a rock up a hill, only to have it roll down each time it almost reached the top.

First, people were caught up in the euphoria when people's power eventually managed to topple the Soeharto kleptocracy. It didn't take long to find they had only jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. When the public were able to participate in the long-awaited election with its gratifying and promising results, not long after they encountered cheap campaigning against Megawati's leadership on the basis of an obsolete, narrow-minded dichotomy of Muslims versus non-Muslims, religion vs gender.

If that wasn't enough, the people are facing the bitter reality of how much the current seat quota system in the House of Representatives has benefited Golkar. The fixed seat system for every province, despite population distribution differences has benefited the ruling party, which trailed PDI Perjuangan in the vote count. This means that although reform parties won, there is still a great possibility that Golkar, which has proven in the past to have no qualms in justifying any means to achieve its end, rules once again and Habibie becomes the next president.

Even when PDI Perjuangan won 33.7 percent of the vote and Golkar 22.5 percent of the total votes, their seat gains did not correspond to their vote gains. The latest counting has PDI Perjuangan with 158 seats, with Golkar on 120, a disappointingly disproportionate difference. This happened because Golkar has few supporters in Java, but has a strong support-base outside Java, areas in which the population is not massive, especially in South Sulawesi, Habibie's birthplace. The cunning excuse for this infringement of representational equality and people's sovereignty is to avoid the impression that Indonesia is overly represented by Java or the Javanese.

So it has become clear that even a reasonable and natural hope for a new government, will potentially be too difficult to accept for those political elite who have, with all their might, been digging up legal technicalities on the Constitution to sustain their political agenda. By using the Constitution (which mandates the House of Representatives (MPR) elects the president), the status quo quarter has constantly issued statements supported by its endorsers, who are disguised in many different organizations, mainly Islamic ones, that the winner of the election doesn't automatically become the ruling party, nor its presidential candidate assume the role of the next president. This activity is a deliberate attempt to completely ignore the essential and moral issues reflected by the overthrow of Soeharto's regime. Additionally, they ignore the recent election results that placed Golkar in second position with a mere 22 percent of the vote, from 74 percent in the 1997 elections.

Ironically, the same people who have repeatedly shown reservations about and advocate amendment to the undemocratic 1945 Constitution insist that the obsolete Constitution be strictly and literally followed. It is true the Constitution is still our legal foundation, however with current situation in our society, as reflected in the election result, requires a little bending of the rules without violating the spirit of democracy and ethics. Perhaps a little deviation, if endorsed by the House of Representatives, could be allowed. If we are going to amend it anyway -- and the general consensus is that the president should be directly elected by the people -- as long as it is conducted democratically by people's representatives why don't we start implementing the spirit of that change now? Isn't it true that when the 1945 Constitution was being drafted there was no solid foundation for this process, other than the trust people gave to our founding fathers and the spirit they possessed to do the best for the country and the people? In other words, an exception should be granted since our current situation can be considered as "abnormal" as it was then.

What remains so puzzling is the continued push from the Habibie quarter for his reelection, as clearly demonstrated by the Indonesian Muslim Intellectual Association (ICMI). Habibie has discovered for himself that it will be very hard for him to satisfy the people's uncompromising demand that prosecution of corruption cases, involving almost all of his current and former entourage, be pursued. So why is it that he is yet to figure out that another term in office will be hell for himself as well as the people? Has he considered the likely possibility that people may revolt?

Finally, the haphazard use of Islam for the personal ambition of certain groups, won't take place without resistance from the pluralistic Muslim communities. It is doing a disservice to Islam for it to be associated with groups advocating and maintaining injustice, because it is clear there is no way it justifies injustice and corrupt regimes. The undeniable fact is that ICMI, which was then headed by Habibie, Soeharto's protege, together with the Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI), was a silent supporter of the New Order's killing machines against the large Muslim population. The public is confused about ICMI's sudden concern about the fate of Muslims.

ICMI chairman Achmad Tirtosudiro's latest bold statement that ICMI will support the President's reelection because "Habibie is the best man the country has (and) is committed to fighting for the country's Muslims' aspirations, and so that the continuation of the reform agenda is not interrupted" is so bereft of intellectual honesty that it defies the "intellectual" label of his organization. One may wonder what sort of mental gymnastics he engaged in prior to releasing that statement? Whatever happened to ICMI's initial commitment when it was first founded of not letting itself serve as anybody's political vehicle?

The writer is director of the Satori Foundation, a center for the study and development of human excellence through mind programming and meditation techniques.