Nurcholish Madjid, Dita Sari and the 2004 elections

Nurcholish Madjid, Dita Sari and the 2004 elections

Max Lane, Visiting Fellow, Centre for Asia Pacific Social Transformation
Studies (CAPSTRANS), University of Wollongong, New South Wales,
Australia

The 2004 election campaign has started. There are two kinds of
issues that people seem to be looking at. The first relate to the
so-called major parties, those with substantial numbers in the
House of Representatives. These are the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), Golkar Party, the United
Development Party (PPP) and the National Awakening Party (PKB).
Because the chairman of the tiny National Mandate Party (PAN),
Amien Rais, is also the chairman of the People's Consultative
Assembly, sometimes PAN is also considered a major party.

The second group of issues are those that relate to
initiatives that appeal to the broad anti-elite sentiment in
society. The most reported such initiative is that of Nurcholish
Madjid who has been "campaigning" to be nominated as a
presidential candidate. Nurcholish has no large political
organization and no significant history as a politician.

It is precisely these "qualifications" that have made it
possible for him to be considered, by some at least, a serious
candidate. Nurcholish, who is also warmly referred to as Cak Nur
(elder brother Nur) in the press, is more well-known as an
intellectual and academic. He is seen as a "clean" figure outside
the political elite.

Being seen as outside the political elite is what constitutes
his basic appeal in a period when all polls and opinion on the
street are vehemently hostile to this elite. The problem for
Nurcholish is that he stands only very partially outside the
elite, if it all.

It was Nurcholish who offered to head up a Reform Committee to
be established by the former dictator Soeharto in the last weeks
of the dictatorship in 1998. This was offered as a means to
facilitate a smoother transition to some new system, with
Soeharto still presiding. This proposal was rejected by the
student and mass movements and Soeharto was forced to resign.

More recently, Nurcholish's ties to the political elite have
been manifested in his announcement that he would seek the
nomination as presidential candidate from the most elitist of all
parties, Golkar. Golkar was founded and controlled by Soeharto
for most of his dictatorship. It was the only party from which
Soeharto drew Cabinet ministers. The New Order dictatorship was
essentially a Soeharto-Golkar dictatorship. Nurcholish had openly
announced his plan to seek Golkar's nomination, although he
canceled the plan on Wednesday.

Interestingly, former president Abdurrahman Wahid seems to be
keeping another option open. Last week he also attended a
congress organized by the Banteng National Awakening Party
(PNBK), led by Eros Jarot. He was given a warm welcome at the
congress, attended by thousands of members. Jarot invited him up
onto the stage where Nurcholish said he would be happy to be
adopted "in some way or another" by the PNBK.

Jarot flattered him with the comment that surely Cak Nur would
not lower himself to compete with a convicted criminal --
referring to Golkar chairman, Akbar Tandjung, who has been
convicted of corruption by a Jakarta court, and now is in the
process of appealing the conviction to the Supreme Court.

Nurcholish's campaign contrasts with that recently initiated
by labor leader Dita Sari. Last weekend, Dita chaired a meeting
of about 300 representatives of over 50 organizations who formed
a new political party: The Party of United People's Opposition
(Popor).

Popor's campaign only shares one similarity with that of
Nurcholish's: It also seeks to respond to the desire for a
political leadership based outside of and representing non-elite
sectors of society.

Beyond this, the two campaigns are very different.
Nurcholish's concentrates on the single position of the
presidency. The Popor campaign concentrates on social
empowerment.

Another difference is, of course, in the arena of policy. What
are Nurcholish's policies for dealing with the economic, social
and cultural crisis in the country? Do we presume that they are
the same as those of Golkar, from whom he is seeking support?

Golkar's basic policies are the same as that of the PDI
Perjuangan: Accept recipe of the IMF; continue the military
operation in Aceh; go slow -- super-slow -- on the trials of
corruptors and human rights violators during the Soeharto era. In
the meantime, among other policies, Popor rejects economic neo-
liberalism, calls for an end to the war in Aceh and the speedy
trials of all corruptors and human rights violators.

At least Dita has shown a more comprehensive program than
Nurcholish. But what are the chances of Dita and Nurcholish?