Political openness not yet real: Observers
Political openness not yet real: Observers
JAKARTA (JP): Several political observers lashed out at the
government yesterday for its feeble attempts at democratization
and political openness, saying it has failed to follow up words
with deeds.
Eros Djarot, former chief editor of the DeTik weekly banned
last year, and Marzuki Darusman, member of the National
Commission on Human Rights, took a critical stance in a
discussion on political openness and the globalization of
information yesterday.
"The government has not followed up (its promise for greater
political openness)," Eros told around 100 students participating
in the lively discussion held by the National University in South
Jakarta.
"The government talks about globalization and democratization,
but the bans on certain people and organizations to hold seminars
or dialogs continue anyway," Eros said.
He reminded his audience that even now, 30 years after the
abortive coup of the now-outlawed Indonesian Communist Party
(PKI), the authorities still stamp a "former political prisoner"
label on the identification cards of people involved in the
uprising.
"This becomes an inherited sin," Eros said, pointing out that
the children of those former political prisoners, despite their
innocence, also have to bear the consequences.
"Political openness still resides only in the minds of the
people," he added, urging the government to be more politically
open-minded.
Another critical discussion took place in Semarang, where
ulema and scholar Abdurrahman Wahid and political observers Afan
Gaffar and Soehardjo focused on democratization.
Abdurrahman, who is also chairman of the 28 million Nahdlatul
Ulama (NU) Moslem organization, said democratization is nothing
more than a topic of debate among political elites.
"There have never been complete discourses on democracy," he
said. He pointed out that successful talk of democracy depends on
the existing balance of power, which is currently tilted in favor
of the executive branch.
Afan Gaffar, a staff-lecturer at the Yogyakarta-based Gadjah
Mada University, took another view, though no less critical. He
said the nation has all the "formal requirements" needed to
establish democracy, but those factors are not allowed to operate
optimally.
He described the condition as "democracy in formality only".
Soehardjo, a staff lecturer at Diponegoro University in
Semarang, Central Java, agreed with Abdurrahman Wahid.
"People in the lower layers of society don't know the meaning
of democracy," he said. "They are too preoccupied with the
difficulties of earning a living."
In the discussion in Jakarta, Marzuki Darusman said political
openness can serve as an information filter.
"Globalization of the information system may lead to a
globalization of misinformation since it is often difficult to
select which information is relevant (for certain communities),"
he said.
He also reminded the audience that globalization of
information may also result in the establishment of a mono-
culture.
"It's possible that someday a prophet will be less famous than
Michael Jackson," he said.
Eros, who is also a famous musician and cinematographer,
pointed out the futility of the authorities current approach in
dealing with globalization of information--for instance, by
merely reminding people not to absorb information which goes
against the nation's ideology.
Instead, the government should now employ "political and
legal" approaches, he said with elaborating.
Proof of the inefficient approach lies in the fact that both
the state-owned TVRI television station and private television
stations are full of programs which are very "open" by
Indonesia's cultural standards, he said.
He also said that there are no guarantees that globalization
will accelerate the development process here. (imn/har)