One barrier removed

One barrier removed

Even though the ruling will not become effective until 2009,
it is no exaggeration to say that by restoring the rights of
former members, and relatives of former members, of the outlawed
Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) to run in legislative elections,
the Indonesian Constitutional Court has made a historic decision.

By that ruling, a milestone has been laid in Indonesia's
contemporary history that could well have far-reaching
implications for the future of democracy in this country.

Responding to the request submitted by 13 former members of
the PKI, the court ruled that Article 60 g of Law No.12/2003 on
legislative elections was contradictory to the Constitution,
which guarantees equality before the law and equal rights for all
citizens in government. As Constitutional Court Chief Justice
Jimly Asshidiqie, who read out the decision, noted, "The right to
vote and the right to be elected are guaranteed by the
Constitution, the law and international conventions. Therefore,
any restriction, violation, resistance or elimination of these
rights is a violation of citizens's rights."

Article 60 g of Law No.12/2003 stipulates that "members of the
outlawed Indonesian Communist Party, including its mass
organizations, or individuals who are either directly or
indirectly involved in the G-30S/PKI movement or other outlawed
organizations" are barred from becoming legislators at all levels
of state administration.

Although it should be noted that former PKI members and their
relatives are still prohibited from running in presidential
elections, Tuesday's Constitutional Court ruling brings to a
close a 38-year period of denial of the political rights of
hundreds of thousands of Indonesian citizens. These citizens were
regarded, by the former New Order government of President
Soeharto, as being somehow linked with the "G30S/PKI" -- which is
the popular term for the abortive coup of Oct.1, 1965.

It should also be noted that thousands of Indonesians who were
in no way involved in the coup were imprisoned or banished to
labor camps in remote and inhospitable areas of the archipelago,
simply because they were close friends with or blood relations of
those who were involved. Indonesians, who lived through those
crucial years under the New Order, will remember the care that
people took to avoid being marked not "environmentally clean" --
which meant that they had abstained from any relations with those
who were suspected of being "leftist." In other words, important
as the Constitutional Court's ruling may be for those who were
actually involved in the 1965 coup, for those who have been
branded guilty by association, the decision means the official
recognition, at long last, of their legitimate rights, which were
so long denied.

However, gratifying as Tuesday's Court decision may be for
those mentioned in the dictum, of even greater importance are the
wider implications that the ruling inevitably must bring. The
Constitution guarantees that no one will be discriminated against
since all citizens are equal before the law. To date, however, it
cannot be denied that discriminatory provisions in outdated and
shortsighted laws and regulations are breaking up the nation into
different groups and categories of citizens, thereby
contradicting the cherished national ideal of "one country, one
nation, one language."

Many Indonesians of Chinese ancestry, for example -- even
those whose service to the nation is recognized by the state --
are still complaining about discriminatory treatment by state
officials who act on the basis of discriminatory laws and
regulations. In marriage, different laws apply to different
groups. But if Indonesians are serious in their much touted ideal
of forging one undivided nation out of this hodgepodge of hugely
diverse groupings, then serious efforts must be made toward that
ideal.

National unity and coherence is not something that Indonesians
can take for granted. Rather, these are goals, which demand
serious and constant effort to achieve and maintain. Imposing
discriminatory laws and regulations that restrict the rights of
ill-favored or minority groups is not the way to succeed. Wise
and farsighted policies must honor and recognize that other
national motto: unity in diversity.