'Political conflicts must be managed, not crushed'

JAKARTA (JP): The government should manage political conflict rather than repress or sweep it under the carpet, says former minister of home affairs Rudini.

Rudini said here yesterday that "even fiercer conflict" would otherwise develop, polarizing the government and the people, eventually leading to upheaval, if conflict repression continued.

Rudini was quoting ideas from influential 16th century Italian author Niccolo Machiavelli, whose two works Il Principe (The Prince) and Discorsi (Discourse) were discussed at the Bentara Budaya complex by several intellectuals yesterday.

Besides Rudini, who leads the think tank Institute for Strategic Studies of Indonesia, political observers Daniel Dhakidae and Muhammad A.S. Hikam attended the discussion.

Rudini cited the government's handling of the leadership rift within the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), which he said was marked with "weaknesses stemming from a practice abhorred by Machiavelli, namely taking sides".

Rudini said the government had taken sides and supported Soerjadi and discriminated against Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Soerjadi and a group of party dissidents ousted Megawati in a government-backed breakaway congress in Medan, North Sumatra, in June 1996.

The conflict eventually peaked during the forced takeover of PDI headquarters on July 27 last year, leading to widespread rioting that left at least five dead, 16 missing and dozens of buildings burned.

Rudini said the government's handling of the conflict made it an easy target to be branded as "unjust" and degraded its credibility as a conflict manager.

"The absence of a conflict management strategy from the government, or rather political efforts based on the principle of conflict repression, worsened the rift instead of fixing it," he told about 200 participants attending the discussion.

"This (conflict repression) had in the end led to the violation of political morality and ethics by the government itself," Rudini said.

In response to PDI legislator Laksmiari Priyonggo -- who said she felt "helpless" witnessing the conflict ravaging her party -- Rudini said: "Both Megawati and Soerjadi now should be willing to approach each another and settle their disputes for the sake of the party's greater interest."

"There must be a process of give and take... (for the sake) of reconciliation... they have to be big hearted over this," he added.

A senior researcher at the National Institute of Sciences, Hikam, agreed that political conflict should not be repressed or denied.

The practice of repressing conflict by current power holders stemmed from their faith in traditional Javanese power management, he said.

Hikam said there have been several scientific findings that in the ancient Javanese power tradition, as it is now, the concept of "harmony between people and rulers as well as concentration of power" is paramount.

"There should be no conflict between the ruler and his people... if there is one, (the people) would either be dominated, coopted or incorporated into the ruler's mainstream," he said. (aan)