Mistakes part of democracy process

Mistakes part of democracy process

Some members of the tiny Indonesian Democratic Party have proposed that the party's chairwoman, Megawati Soekarnoputri, run for president. Political scientist J. Soedjati Djiwandono evaluates the suggestion, which is unprecedented in the history of the New Order government.

JAKARTA (JP): What follows is not to oppose or support the unofficial nomination of Megawati as a presidential candidate. Nor is it to assess the merits and demerits of the courageous move by the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).

I do, however, dismiss her critics, who oppose the move on grounds of plain prejudice, pettifoggery as well as legalistic and procedural squabbles. I also disregard the reckless remark that the move is "bad for democracy", and that no one should comment on the matter because Megawati herself has not made her own reaction public.

The nomination is but an expression of certain members of the PDI and its supporters.

Irrespective of her chances of success, such a move would be good for the development of democracy in Indonesia. It could serve as the beginning of a tradition by which a political party commits to nominating a candidate for president (perhaps also for vice president) well before the general election. This way the number of votes received by any one party at election time would not result in a landslide and be given carte blanche, as has been the case thus far.

Furthermore, it is ironic that a party should nominate a candidate from another party, even before the candidate's own party does so. This is what happened in the last session of the People's General Assembly (MPR).

Democracy demands a certain attitude. The nomination of a candidate to challenge another candidate, even if he or she is the incumbent, may well be a challenge to a certain cultural values here, where it is considered inelegant, disconcerting and perhaps even "unethical" to do so.

I hope we can move one step further and have one candidate not only respond to a nomination, but actually "run" for president and vigorously campaign for it. This will allow the candidate to prove his or her personal commitment, dedication, dreams and aspirations for the welfare of the people, not simply because he or she is ready "as long as the people so wish".

I do not believe that all traditions and cultural values deserve to be preserved. We need to be selective and should not hesitate to abandon those which stand in the way of human progress. I loath the tendency on the part of those in power to abuse or manipulate what they call "national identity" or traditional "cultural values", which they themselves define, though vaguely, and thus they alone pretend to understand, primarily to justify and maintain their power.

Surely any change entails a certain degree of uncertainty. But nobody is perfect. Nor is anybody better or worse than others in all respects. Quite often the office makes, or at least helps make, the man or woman.

Democracy is a learning process. For a country like Indonesia, with little or no democratic tradition of its own, it is likely to be a process of trial and error and, to some extent, of emulation. There is basically nothing wrong with that. Part of the beauty of democracy is that it also provides an opportunity for the rectification of mistakes.

Some people dream of something, or hear the dreams of others and ask, "Why?". Born an optimist, I would prefer to dream of something, and ask myself, "Why not?"

The writer is a member of the Board of Directors at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta.