Political change in 1997 seen amid free trade
Political change in 1997 seen amid free trade
SEMARANG (JP): There will be great political change next year
as the nation gears up for economic liberalization, and strives
to find a balance between its obsessions for stability and
economic growth, according to political observer Riswandha
Imawan.
"The government's obsession to create political stability
along with economic growth required a common stance by members of
the elite," he told The Jakarta Post here Saturday. "This, of
course, has much to do with the elite's ability to organize so
that their interests don't clash."
Riswandha, a lecturer at the Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada
University's School of Social and Political Sciences, said this
year had been marked with instability as seen in the elite's
conflicting statements on many issues.
"Next year, there will be even bigger clashes, occurring in
line with the country's preparations for economic
liberalization," he said. "We can cope with the situation so long
as members of the elite adopt a common stance. Otherwise, the
imbalance will get even bigger."
He said the country needed new leaders who could manage
conflicts between competing interests. Unfortunately, people with
great leadership potential had not yet emerged because of the
nation's deeply ingrained habit of deferring problems to "the one
great man".
"People then become reluctant to show their potential to be
new leaders," he said.
"Every time a conflict occurs, people tend to take sides (with
parties perceived to be close to President Soeharto) rather than
solving it," he said.
He cited disputes within the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI)
as an example. Rather than solving the party's dual leadership
problem, people in charge of political development decided to
take sides.
Riswandha's hopes for change look bleak. Moslem scholar Dahlan
Ranuwihardjo said Saturday there was only a slight chance of
political change in the near future.
Skeptical
"I'm skeptical there will be changes for the better," he said
after the launch of Islam and Politics, a book by Moslem scholar
Syafii Maarif, at University of Indonesia's School of Social and
Political Sciences.
Dahlan said the country needed democratization for change to
occur. Slow democratization indicated limited change, he said.
The government had once opened the corridor of democratization
but closed it again recently. He did not elaborate.
Dahlan lamented the nation's failure to implement "honest and
fair" principles in its past general elections as some people had
demanded. He blamed this on the General Elections Committee's
lack of independence.
"The members of the committee are mostly government officials,
which means they cannot work independently or objectively," he
said. (har/03)