Nation 'must learn to respect differences'

JAKARTA (JP): The nation must learn to respect ethnic and political differences, including the establishment of new political parties, if it wishes to build a true democratic society, observers say.

Referring to the growth of new political parties, many with religious or ethnic sectarian inclinations, former legislator Sabam Sirait and social observer Franz Magnis Suseno of the Driyarkara School of Philosophy argued that the phenomenon was politically beneficial.

"What's important now is that people should be able to tolerate differences," Sabam, a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party, said during a discussion here Saturday.

Sabam warned against repeating mistakes of the past regime under former president Soeharto, during which differences were not tolerated.

"We cannot just ban this and that, like the former administration," he said.

Sabam, however, reminded all parties to firmly uphold democratic principles, which in essence allows countering views to be held.

The establishment of several religious and ethnic-based parties has renewed fears of a possible return to sectarian politics which many believe could undermine national unity.

The new political climate of openness which has developed in the past month has seen the growth of new political parties, including ones which have adopted religious or ethnic affiliations.

Founders of the Islamic Community Party, established Friday, effectively said that the party would be meant primarily for Moslems.

The Chinese Indonesian Reform Party, while asserting that it was open to all, surprised many from its use of the term Tionghoa, Chinese, in its name. The use of the word for a political institution was previously unheard of.

Franz said the establishment of such parties was merely a reaction to the 32 years of political oppression under Soeharto's regime.

"Let people express their aspirations. We'd better leave the survival of these political parties up to the voters in the general election," Franz argued.

He pointed out that the sectarian nature of the parties was also a reflection of the country's diverse nature, and that it could also be viewed as an expression of people's identity.

During Soeharto's reign, issues touching on tribal affiliations, religion, race and societal groupings, commonly referred to under the Indonesian acronym of SARA, were usually taboo subjects for open discussion or debate.

The prevailing opinion was that such divisive issues threatened state unity.

Both Franz and Sabam argued that the nation was far more mature now and trusted that it would not descend into conflict over these particular issues.

Franz expressed hope that the coming elections, which President B.J. Habibie plans to hold in the middle of next year, would be free and fair.

"I hope that the people, for the first time, can vote freely," Franz said.

Sabam questioned whether it was still necessary for the Armed Forces (ABRI) to retain its allocated seats in the House of Representatives.

"Amid the mounting calls for all House members to be chosen (through elections), is it still necessary that we have ABRI representatives in the House?," Sabam said.

Armed Forces personnel do not vote during elections but are allocated 75 seats in the 500-member House.

Franz, however, felt that the Armed Forces' role could not altogether be terminated in the political arena.

"It's true that ideally all House members should be elected. But I'm just being pragmatic and realistic," Franz said, adding that the Armed Forces should still be represented in the House for another 15 years. (byg)