Multiparty coalition required to unite Indonesia

By Ronnie Hatley

YOGYAKARTA (JP): The Ciganjur coalition of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-Perjuangan), the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the National Awakening Party (PKB) will gain 344 of the 700 electors in the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR). Thus an even wider coalition will be required to elect the president and vice president and to form a cabinet.

The United Development Party (PPP), as the strongest party outside Java, needs to be included in the government executive to make the new executive truly Indonesia-wide, all-inclusive and consensual. That no party wins a majority will require collective leadership in the Cabinet to negotiate Indonesia's common future. This is the best lesson and the only choice resulting from the elections, reflecting both the peoples' choices and true Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (unity in diversity) of Indonesian integrity.

The Ciganjur three will have a majority of 284 (56.8 percent) of the 500 seats in the House of Representatives (DPR), where they can formulate new laws as a coalition, or in various wider or narrower temporary coalitions that form around particular legislative issues. A real parliament with ideas from all parties.

This legislative work will be the next important lesson for Indonesia's "reformed" democracy. Parties, legislators and people outside the House will learn to work together, discussing and listening to one another to arrive at mutually beneficial decisions. These decisions will be more inclusive of various viewpoints than any single leader or winning party could ever be. This is the most important lesson of democracy: Everyone must be heard, so no one can be left out, and no one can lose.

PDI Perjuangan chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri will be president, Gus Dur (Abdurrahman Wahid) of PKB vice president, and hopefully, Amien Rais minister in charge of Cabinet. Such collective leadership will provide several lessons. Megawati will prove that a woman who speaks softly can lead well, without the bluster, feigned infallibility and bullying of the past. The tandem leadership of Mega, Gus Dur and Amien can show Indonesians that good governance is based on listening to one another and working together in fairness and inclusiveness, and not by the forced, single leader "unity" of persatuan dan kesatuan (unity and unitariness). Let us all be free of violent, ordering, thieving men of steel, true belief and insincere promises. Instead we will learn the skills of women's calm nurturance and good neighborliness working together.

May Amien Rais organize the Cabinet from the three Ciganjur parties, plus important ministries for the PPP, such as defense. The defense ministry (and all others) needs to be entirely of civilians as in all democratic societies. Get the military out of government, and business too. Abolish tri-fungsi (military mixing in government and business) and build a professional Army and a separate police force responsible to the regional governments, with proper local and national parliamentary and legal oversight. The main job of ministries is to maintain clean, transparent administration to carry out legislative policy. Having ministers from different parties keeping watch on each other in Cabinet will help.

Just as big a challenge is that of reforming the civil service and the judiciary away from corrupt practices. Soeharto, his family and friends may be the biggest thieves of the world this century, but there are millions of other Indonesians who are also still using corrupt means for self-enrichment at the Indonesian peoples' expense. All laws require enforcement, and many laws need deliberation and rewriting in parliament.

No more presidential decrees, concessions, foundations and others. No more local or national officials on the take either. All officials, and the judiciary too, require transparency before national and local parliamentary, party and public oversight.

Local autonomy is the key to Indonesia's future as one country. The Jakarta/Javanese view of correct practices and ideas can never be imposed, even by colonial divide-and-rule tactics. Invading armies, officials, settlers and business opportunists cannot continue to make enemies of the local peoples all across the archipelago without more revolt. The only national integrity that will unite Indonesians is that which affords each Indonesian the real opportunity to express that integrity in terms of the resources of their particular culture and local community. This is real, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, autonomy.

Local governments elected on June 7 have the essential task of reestablishing local government that is made by, for and of local people.

Military officers can no longer fill civilian government jobs, and civil servants can no longer run business out of their office. So too, newcomers can never be real local representatives or effective local teachers, traders, workers or administrators until they respect, learn and use local ways, that is, become locals.

The results of the elections in many regions will see different coalitions of parties forming majorities and choosing local leaders that are not of the same party composition as the central government. This is as it should be, with local government reflecting local peoples' diversity and wishes. This will allow effective Bhinneka Tunggal Ika government throughout Indonesia.

The new central government, to accommodate the myriad needs of the regions, and to utilize fairly their various resources for the benefit of all Indonesians, will have to start listening to the regions instead of giving orders and plundering.

A very crucial step of the PDI-PAN-PKB government will be to make the Cabinet and leadership of the House reflect the variety of regions and religious groups of Indonesia, and that also includes the various major Islamic factions. The best start would be to incorporate PPP in the coalition Cabinet and in leadership positions in parliament, making certain that the PPP's stricter Islamic and non-Java political ideas are included in decisions made together by the widest representation of all Indonesians.

There does not need to be an opposition fighting the government. Rather, transparency, division of power between branches of government and the regions and Jakarta, and constant surveillance of all government actions by the various parties, non-governmental organizations and the public. That Golkar and the Indonesian Military (TNI) will be left out of government is because the people did not choose to vote for them. Instead of governing, let civil servants, soldiers and police become true servants of the people, in roles determined by representatives elected by all citizens. This is Bhinneka Tunggal Ika representative democracy.

There is plenty of reform to be done. May the new government make a good start, so that most Indonesians will be willing to vote for them again in five years time, well pleased by their representative's best efforts. We must remember that they will require our help in reminding them of our needs and wishes, and in making sure they do their work accordingly. May those who use the best ideas and do the best deeds win, and let that be all of us.

The writer is a visiting lecturer at the University of Gadjah Mada. He is an assistant professor of political sciences at Washington State University with more than 30 years experience in observing Indonesian politics.

Window: The results of the elections in many regions will see different coalitions of parties forming majorities and choosing local leaders that are not of the same party composition as the central government.