Multiparty coalition required to unite Indonesia

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.