PDI rifts shows up lack of democracy

By Asip Agus Hasani

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Cornelis LAY, a political scientist based at Gadjah Mada University's Inter-University Center, once described Indonesian politics as having a "barbarian" face because of the ever-decreasing opportunities made available to common people to express their opinions.

He believes, however, that in the internal conflict currently ravaging the minority Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), ordinary people have managed to carve out a niche and be more involved than usual because they identify with ousted leader Megawati Soekarnoputri.

"Even inhabitants of the Code riverbank here have an opinion on the PDI conflict," he told The Jakarta Post recently.

Cornelis is known for his astute analyses of Indonesian political parties' success in promoting democratization. When speaking about the dominant organization, Golkar, and the Moslem- based United Development Party (PPP), Cornelis' remarks are usually thorough and to the point.

But when he turns to the prolonged PDI conflict, it not only quickly becomes apparent his sympathy lies with Megawati but that he also sees many of the party's problems stemming from the government's stance and the chairman it backed, Soerjadi.

"Trust me. Government intervention in PDI will continue after the 1997 general election. The election will not (be a great success) for PDI because Soerjadi does not play a determining role within the party."

In a recent article he wrote for the Kompas daily, Cornelis called the "PDI tragedy" a "reflection of the grimness of Indonesian politics values." The makeup of the established political order indicated a massive decline in the nation's political ethics, he said.

He said Indonesian politics had a barbarian face because of the domination of certain political interests groups seeking instant gratification from short term objectives.

In the PDI conflict, "we are witnessing how the use of common sense in our political management is declining. There's not one incident in the PDI dispute that can be comprehended clearly," he said.

People's quest for knowledge and understanding of what caused the prolonged conflict and why the government is meddling in the minority party is also being blocked. "Nobody is really learning anything about the issue except from speculation and rumors," he asserted.

Cornelis told the Post that matters in Indonesia are mostly viewed from the perspective of the state. Members of the public are not usually given the opportunity to present their own views.

The PDI case, however, has been different. Despite evidence of overwhelming government pressure to control the party, "people still managed to create a niche for themselves from which they could express their opinions."

As an example he said that even slum and riverbank dwellers in Yogyakarta are emotionally involved in the rivalry between Soerjadi and Megawati.

"Indonesian politics can be monitored from the street, from the talk of pedicab and taxi drivers, from the narrow alleys of crowded urban slum areas, and from people marginalized from the centralized state power.

"Politically speaking they are never given the opportunity to express themselves; they are always there to be manipulated and mobilized by the powerful. But all of a sudden, they have discovered their fate is similar to PDI's so they have identified with the party."

He said the PDI conflict has involved not only the common people but also the upper layers of society. "Everybody, from the President down to neighborhood chiefs, has at one time or another been involved in mediating in the PDI conflict. The energy expended by the state (in handling the PDI conflict) has been tremendous!"

Qualifications

Cornelis is well qualified to discuss PDI. His undergraduate thesis was titled "The development of PDI from 1973 to 1986 and its prospects as a sociopolitical force."

He obtained a near perfect grade of 3.97 from Gadjah Mada University's School of Social and Political Sciences and was named the best graduate of 1987.

He spent 23 months of 1986 and 1987 researching his thesis. For it he met and interviewed 40 prominent PDI figures, including the party's founders, to learn their views of its problems.

It was through these contacts, he admitted, that a feeling of involvement in the party developed.

"I became attracted to the PDI figures who had held their own despite facing great pressures from the government," he said.

Afterward, Cornelis felt he had forged a special affinity for PDI to the extent that some colleagues doubted his objectivity in his assessment of the party. "Perhaps I could not be neutral. I spoke more for PDI than about it," he admitted.

Poverty

Cornelis said he once wanted to become a journalist.

"I thought it would be a suitable vocation for a person like me as I would be able to travel a lot," said the jeans-clad lecturer. On graduating however he was offered a lecturing position.

"I have gradually started to enjoy my work as a lecturer. It allow me to continue to think," the 37-year old bachelor from Sabu Island, East Nusa Tenggara, said.

On campus, Cornelis is called either Cony or Ney, and is known to be very close to his students. In fact, he still lives in a dormitory for East Nusa Tenggara students.

Fellow lecturers have suggested he should look for accommodation elsewhere, away from his students, in order to maintain his more senior status. "Such an outlook complicates matters. It should not be necessary for lecturers to live separately from students," he said.

Cornelis obtained his master's degree at St. Mary's University, Halifax, Canada in 1991. For that his thesis was titled: "Development in Indonesia: A Study of Regional Disparities."

He admits to being close to people at the grassroots level. This is because he was born and raised in a poor family in an equally poor environment. "My friends did not study beyond junior high school."

Cornelis' parents were traders on the fringe of a market in Sabu, and had to support five children including Cornelis, their fourth child. They paid hardly any attention to their children's education.

Cornelis had to turn his arm to many things to stay in school. "I often slept under the eaves of shops when I was at elementary school," he recalled. On holidays and Sundays he used to work as a construction laborer.

This early experience with poverty has made him feel more sympathetic for people at the grassroots. It also makes him especially attentive to problems in grassroots society.