Javanese culture barrier to democracy, say observers
Javanese culture barrier to democracy, say observers
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
The dominant non-confrontational nature of Javanese culture is
responsible for the failure of democracy in Indonesia, as it does
not encourage people to speak out or be open to criticism,
observers say.
Speaking at a launch for the book Mikul Dhuwur Mendhem Jero
("Shoulder the load, bury it deep") written by former vice
presidential office secretary Prijono Tjiptoherijanto, former
president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid admitted to facing
difficulties in openly criticizing certain figures whom he
respected.
"The options left for us are whether we prefer to preserve
these values or exercise our logic," said Gus Dur, an influential
figure in the country's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul
Ulama (NU), whose members are mostly Javanese.
Also reviewing the book, which was launched on Thursday, were
economic analysts Faisal Basri and Kartomo.
Gus Dur said this cultural barrier had prompted him to exploit
humor when it came to criticizing people in order to prevent them
from losing face.
"I use jokes too when criticizing Pak SBY. We have several
times traded jokes. You know why? It is because we are living in
Indonesia, in a power system that is mostly influenced by
Javanese values. Only a few people (here) can positively respond
to sharp criticism," Gus Dur said, referring to President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono by his popular acronym.
Gus Dur, however, asserted that the nation should start
accustoming itself to openly criticizing leaders to keep them
from arbitrary and arrogant ways of governing.
"The more educated people, the more capable; they should learn
to accept criticism. We must encourage ourselves to criticize our
leaders to prevent them from governing arrogantly. Being open-
minded is part of democracy," Gus Dur said.
The book contains Prijono's views about the country's current
political, economic and social problems. In one of the chapters,
Prijono, who now heads the Indonesian Family Planning Association
(PKBI), lashes out at the government for failing to support the
family planning campaign.
Prijono resigned from the vice presidential office following
the issuance of a controversial internal memo sent to Cabinet
ministers and heads of government institutions, suggesting that
they skip meetings with the House of Representatives if they
considered them a waste of time.
Vice President Jusuf Kalla denied having instructed Prijono to
circulate the memo, prompting the latter to step down.
Commenting on the book, Faisal said the country's younger
generation had adopted a new way of expressing their views,
therefore "leaders must leave behind their narrow mindset in
governing the state."
"Losing popularity should not be a big deal, if we are taking
sides with the people," said Faisal, who earlier quit the
National Mandate Party, which he said had failed to accommodate
people's aspirations.
"I believe that the people have their own (collective) wisdom.
They have a sense of democracy and, indeed, political maturity.
It's the political elite who fail to promote and accept the
values of democracy," Faisal said.
"Look at the people. They managed to survive the turbulence
and select their leaders in line with their wishes. While the
people are manageable, the problem lies in the leaders."
Kartomo from the University of Indonesia (UI), however,
suggested that Indonesians maintain their traditional values.
"We must learn from Russia and Japan, which have explored
science and technology as weapons to defeat the United States'
domination," he said.