Meaning of democracy
Meaning of democracy
From Media Indonesia
Apparently we still have a lot to learn about democracy. The
New Order regime interpreted democracy as holding total power
(judiciary, executive and legislative, even military) in one
hand. It also silenced anyone who had a different opinion,
accusing him of undermining Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution
and putting him in jail. Was it called Pancasila democracy?
Pancasila democracy was seemingly not an improvement on the
Guided Democracy popularized by Indonesia's first president
Sukarno. The late Buya Hamka had a different opinion on the
subject and was imprisoned without due legal process.
The splintered Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) Perjuangan
considers democracy as the efforts to thwart the other PDI
faction (formerly led by Soerjadi and now led by Budi Hardjono),
by violence if need be. Then to terrorize anyone who doubts
Megawati's potential as a prospective president, as experienced
by a KNI journalist in Yogyakarta. Also, to thrash anybody who
has a different opinion. Perhaps that is Perjuangan (struggle)
Democracy.
The Voices of Concerned Women and Arifin Panigoro practiced
democracy in the form of distributing packages of rice, bread,
noodles, drinks, medicine to students who opposed the Special
Session of the People's Consultative Assembly. They gave no
attention at all to the people in favor of the Special Session.
Democracy should actually provide equal space to pros and cons.
Certain circles (mostly NGOs) assess democracy as opposition
to the government. To support the government is to be
antidemocracy. Thus, if a student dies because he is against the
government, he is named a hero of democracy and reform. On the
other hand, if a student (also a government apparatus and a
civilian) dies but he is not opposed to the government, his death
is merely meaningless.
What about Nahdlatul Ulama's chairman Gus Dur's version of
democracy? To him democracy is to establish the Democracy Forum
after firmly rejecting the Association of Indonesian Moslem
Intellectuals (ICMI) which he considers sectarian. Actually, the
principles of democracy recognize both ICMI and Forum Demokrasi.
Furthermore, to Gus Dur democracy means the ouster of Abu Hasan
from the Nahdlatul Ulama central board although the latter only
lost by a few votes at the Cipasung conference some years ago.
As a nation still learning about democracy, we lack not only
wisdom, we also have the tendency to claim that "my version" of
democracy is far more democratic than "his version".
MOH. ABDUL KARIM
Jakart