MPR must honors people's trust

MPR must honors people's trust

By Aleksius Jemadu

BANDUNG (JP): On March 1 the attention of all Indonesians will
be focused on Senayan in Jakarta, where the 1000 members of the
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) begin their quinqennial
General Session.

Our 1945 Constitution enshrines the MPR as the highest state
organ and the embodiment of popular sovereignty. It formulates
the State Policy Guidelines then elects and empowers a president
and vice president to carry out the new political mandate.

Controversial political debate rarely, if ever, takes place
during the General Session. A draft of the State Policy
Guidelines has been under discussion since last October in
various MPR working committees. Drastic changes to this draft are
very unlikely.

Regarding the leadership succession, all factions in the MPR
-- Golkar, the Armed Forces, the regional representatives, the
United Development Party (PPP), and the Indonesian Democratic
Party (PDI) -- have nominated Soeharto and B.J. Habibie as their
respective candidates for president and vice president.

Whether or not each member of the MPR is obliged to follow
instructions issued by their respective factions when electing a
president and vice president has been hotly contested. The crux
of the matter regards who members of the MPR actually represent
-- their factions or the people.

Irrespective of the fact that most critical decisions have
been taken in advance of the gathering, the General Session still
has value as an exercise in democracy. But it is of deep concern
that individual members of the MPR have limited freedom to
represent the political aspirations of ordinary people.

In his theory of the "iron law of oligarchy" Robert Michels
argues that any political organization tends toward an oligarchy,
or a grouping in which a small number exercise control. This is
the result of an inevitable division between a minority of
leaders and the supporting majority.

Decision making is controlled by the privileged top echelon of
the organization. This can cause problems if a differences in
opinion emerges between the elite and the rank and file.

Despite their apparently weak position, individual members of
the MPR have a moral obligation to put voice to the political
aspirations of those who elected them into office. Indonesians
across the archipelago surely hope that their trust and support
has not been in vain.

The success of the General Session will therefore be
determined by the extent to which discussions and decisions take
into account the political sentiment of ordinary society. If the
Session only serves the interest of the political elite then it
has failed in its constitutional task.

A concurrent desire for strong leadership in the future and a
pressing necessity for economic and institutional reform has
created an extraordinarily complicated national political
situation in the run-up to the General Session.

As other crisis-ridden countries like South Korea, Malaysia,
and Thailand have shown signs of moving toward recovery,
Indonesia appears to be going nowhere.

In addition to every Indonesian, the IMF, World Bank, Asian
Development Bank and a number of donor countries also have a high
stake in the future political and economic situation in this
country. These international organizations are concerned about
the government's commitment to implementing the necessary
reforms. Beneath their impeccable diplomacy, these organizations
would surely be pleased to see a new leadership backed by a
popular legitimacy emerge to lead the nation out of crisis. As a
needy recipient of international assistance, Indonesia cannot
ignore the demands of the international community.

The conclusion is therefore plain. Members of the MPR, as the
embodiment of popular sovereignty, must put national interests
above the partisan. Unfortunately, in the politics of many
developing countries, promoting the common good for all is a
utopia beyond reach for the majority of people. Let us hope and
pray that in their imminent General Session all members of MPR
uphold the people's trust so that popular sovereignty may one day
become a reality.

The writer is head of the School of International Relations at
UNPAR, Bandung. He is also a researcher with the Parahyangan
Centre for International Studies (PACIS) at the same university.