Political parties are becoming more independent
Political parties are becoming more independent
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian political organizations are becoming
independent despite the bureaucracy's reluctance to loosen its
grip, a political analyst said yesterday.
Leaders of political organizations have major contribution in
encouraging the process of democratization, Arbi Sanit told a
seminar on reassessment of the New Order's political format.
The seminar was organized by the Indonesian Institute of
Sciences (LIPI) in remembrance of Alfian, one of Indonesia's
prominent scholars, who died in 1992.
Indonesia has three sanctioned political organizations, the
government-backed Golkar, the Moslem oriented United Development
Party (PPP) and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI). Golkar
likes to be called a "functional grouping" although it functions
like a political party.
The political organizations' independence was reflected in
increasingly outspoken legislators in the House of
Representatives (DPR) over the past five years, Arbi said.
"PPP and PDI leaders have been surprisingly critical of the
government's claim of success in development," said the political
scientist from the University of Indonesia.
He pointed out that, unlike the past, current House members
from all the three political organizations deserved thumb-ups
because they are more courageous in criticizing the bureaucracy.
PDI, he said, had the courage to resist bureaucrats' attempts
to meddle when it elected Megawati Sukarnoputri as its
chairperson instead of the government-favored candidate.
Golkar's success in unraveling the financial scandal at the
state-run Bank Pembangunan Indonesia (Bapindo) earlier this year
was an obvious indication of political parties' performance as a
check on central authority.
He noted, however, that the current level of independence is
still far below public expectations.
"Look, political organizations and the House pledged their
unreserved loyalty to President Soeharto in (last year's)
presidential election when the public yearned for succession of
national leadership," he said.
He also pointed at the removal of legislators simply because
the government considers them "too outspoken" as an indication
that the government still controls the political organizations
and the legislative body.
In the latest twist, Golkar faction leaders in the House tried
to silence the legislator who wanted to disclose an alleged huge
bad debt at the textile company PT Kanindo.
But Arbi's bright picture of political parties and the
legislative body was sneered at by Soerjadi, a deputy House
Speaker from the PDI faction.
Soerjadi said the bureaucracy effectively "castrated" the
rights of people in villages to political participation and that
"government legislators" still dominate the House. (pan)