Local NGOs pledge to work together on political education
Local NGOs pledge to work together on political education
JAKARTA (JP): Representatives of non-governmental
organizations named on Thursday a priority to work together for
political education of the public amid the recent turmoil of
political upheaval and the economic crisis.
"The three decades of oppression have made us ill-prepared to
press changes for a true democratic society. Suddenly, we face so
many complex issues," said lawyer Abdul Hakim Garuda of the
Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (Elsam).
He was addressing the opening of the two-day International
Consultation Supporting Democracy in Indonesia, a meeting
organized by NGOs including Elsam, the International NGO Forum on
Indonesian Development (Infid) and the Kalyanamitra women's
organization.
For the task, he said NGOs would "have to focus their efforts
on limiting the power of the state, and advocating the division
of power which will allow checks and balances".
Speakers talked of raising public political awareness as
opposed to the New Order's "depoliticization" through centralized
power and the stranglehold on dissent.
Infid's executive secretary Binny Buchori said NGOs felt the
need for a "common platform" after Soeharto stepped down from
power in May, although working together was not new to them.
"There are new urgent issues to work together on such as
political education, election monitoring, socializing democracy."
NGO representatives from several countries have been invited
to share similar experiences in a period of transition.
Ita F. Nadia from Kalyanamitra cited earlier talks between
local NGOs held from Oct. 18 to Oct 20. Among results, she said,
was the assertion that NGOs would advocate an end to the
military's dual function -- considered a main obstacle to
democratization -- and help in voter education.
Although the Independent Committee for Election Monitoring
(KIPP) which helped monitor last year's elections would watch
over the 1999 general election, Binny said NGOs should help to
educate the public on elections and its monitoring.
Regardless of pessimistic views on the upcoming election, she
said the poll was a process in which the public should
participate to ensure it would be free and fair.
Foreign speakers included Joel Rocamora for the Institute for
Popular Democracy in the Philippines.
He said after Ferdinand Marcos was deposed in 1986, NGOs were
immediately involved in dismantling institutions of
authoritarianism, including ousting top military figures close to
Marcos and building institutions of democracy.
"The homework of NGOs here", he said, would include the
monitoring of the redistribution of assets, including through the
Indonesian Debt Restructuring Agency (INDRA). Rocamora warned it
was an important and complex political process. (anr)