Political empowerment also important: Analysts

Political empowerment also important: Analysts

By R. Fadjri and Haryoso

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Political empowerment is just as important as economic empowerment, especially in the context of Indonesia, political analysts say.

Sayidiman Suryohadiprojo, a retired Army general also known as a military thinker, and Roekmini Astuti Koesoemo, a retired police general now with the National Commission on Human Rights, said at a seminar this week that current talks about empowering the people should not be confined to the economical field.

However, while Sayidiman proposes a number of changes in the political system in Indonesia, Roekmini says there is nothing wrong with the system and the problem is that those in power refuse to hand down some of the power they possess.

The two were speakers at a seminar on empowerment and national development organized by the Yogyakarta University of Muhammadiyah in connection with its 15th anniversary.

Minister of National Development Planning Ginandjar Kartasasmita in opening the two-day seminar on Tuesday said that empowerment as a means of promoting national development has not caught on among government officials. Ginandjar said some officials are even uncomfortable with the concept.

Roekmini, a former legislator, said increasing prosperity among Indonesians as a result of continued economic development has brought about greater political demands from the people.

Yet the current political system has failed to accommodate the wishes of the people because those in power refuse to yield to the demands for democracy, she said.

"They want to preserve the status quo," Roekmini said. "What they don't know is that by preserving the status quo, they're sowing political discontent."

Sayidiman, a former governor of the National Defense Institute, said political development is now a must if Indonesia is to survive the fiercely competitive globalization era.

The United States, for example, is putting pressure on the rest of the world to respect democracy and human rights.

"Political development must be our top priority," he said.

He said that to empower the people politically, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) must meet more frequently.

The present system in which it meets only once every five years "is hardly sufficient for the highest state institution to exercise people's sovereignty", he said.

He suggests that the MPR meet at least twice during its five- year term, the first meeting being to draw up the state policy guidelines, and the other, held in mid-term, to evaluate the extend to which the President has implemented the guidelines.

"That way, the MPR can order the President to make policies that are in the interest of the people," he said.

The MPR comprises 1,000 members, 400 of whom are elected by the people and the rest appointed and selected from various walks of life, including the military.

Besides drawing up policy guidelines, the MPR also elects the president and vice president every five years.

There has been criticism about the way the MPR works because, with a single sitting in five years, it only elects the president but never evaluates his performance.

That job instead is left to the next MPR.

Sayidiman argued that the role of evaluating the President cannot be left to the House of Representatives (DPR) because the House and the President are equal in state protocol, and the President is not compelled to carry out the wishes of the House.

Sayidiman suggested that the House be empowered in carrying out its duty to monitor the performance of the government.

He proposed changing the election system, now using proportional representation, to one that puts greater emphasis on electing representatives rather than choosing a political party.

All representatives must be elected by the people and not appointed, he argued. "As long as there are DPR members who are appointed, the House cannot gain the public respect it deserves."

Currently, of the 500 seats in the House, 100 belong to the Armed Forces whose members do not vote. The other 400 are divided among the three political parties according to the results of the 1992 general election. The Armed Forces has agreed to cut the number of its seats to 75 after the next election in 1997.

Roekmini questioned the quality of House members, saying that most have been acting simply as "political employees" rather than as true politicians.

She said the way House members are selected and screened has meant that only those who are unlikely to cause problems for the government would be approved. "It is not surprising therefore that the House is more closely associated with the political superstructure rather than with the people."

She also noted that although the constitution ranks the House and the government as equals, in practice, the House is subordinated by the government.

Roekmini served the House between 1987 and 1992, representing the Armed Forces faction, and was one of the few members who were outspoken and critical of the government.

Mochtar Mas'oed, a scholar on political economy of the Gadjah Mada University, said that many organizations at village level have the potential to empower the people.

But many of these supposedly grassroots movements have been put under government control and led by village heads appointed by the government.