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.