Observers decry state domination of siciety
Observers decry state domination of siciety
JAKARTA (JP): Political observers have expressed concern over the wide gaps between social groups brought about by national development. They have blamed the differences in wealth, among other things, on the state's dominant role in political decision making.
In a seminar on the achievements of the current New Order government on Wednesday, prominent speakers, including State Minister of Public Housing Akbar Tanjung and Armed Forces chief of sociopolitical affairs Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid, agreed that challenges abound for the 30-year old administration.
"One of the problems is the state's dominant position over the people," Akbar, who is also a former activist in the 1960s, was quoted by Antara as saying.
Many of the public's potential contributions have yet to be developed, so that the state and its apparatus take over most development initiatives, he said.
Syarwan pointed out that Indonesia's political system, which is built on the state ideology Pancasila, has yet to function effectively.
Other speakers, Soerjadi, of the nationalist Indonesian Democratic Party, and Yusuf Syakir of the Moslem-based United Development Party (PPP), also decried the state's domination over its people.
"In many ways, our people are still dependent on the state's power, such as the Armed Forces," Yusuf said.
"Our people's political rights are not what they should be ... because our political education is elitist in nature," Soerjadi said. Leadership in society is monopolized by the well-connected and so common people have little opportunity to reach positions of importance, he explained.
Speakers at the seminar also included constitutional law expert Yusril Ihza Mahendra and Fahmi Idris of the ruling Golkar organization. Yusril, a lecturer at the University of Indonesia's Law School, agreed that the people's decision-making role in the sphere of national development is still limited.
"This is why many decisions taken by those in power are not based on the wishes or needs of the people," Yusril said.
In the seminar's opening address, Akbar also spoke of gaps in regions' readiness to develop. "There are regions where people are more ready to develop and whose progress into various new stages of development occurs without upheavals," he said.
"These regions often develop faster and leave others behind," he said.
Development programs imposed on regions whose people are not yet ready may result in harmful upheavals and stunted progress, he said.
"The fruits of the national development program have not been distributed evenly either," he said. "There are gaps among sectors, regions or groups...there are social and economic disparities which persist even now."
"The problem is so basic that every layer in society has agreed to consider social and economic disparity as a threat to national integrity," he said. "Unless handled well, this could prove to be fatal for national unity." (swe)