Political scientists launch 'civil society' talks
Political scientists launch 'civil society' talks
By Pandaya
KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara (JP): A group of Indonesian
political scientists has added yet another item to the
government's political agenda, already lengthy with issues like
democracy and human rights -- the development of civil society.
Their argument is this: the strong, overbearing nature of
government in Indonesia has stunted the growth of civil society.
Something must be done to reverse this process, according to
members of the Association of Indonesian Political Scientists
(AIPI).
This week AIPI organized the first national seminar on how
society can strengthen its bargaining position in relation to the
state and thus foster the development of civil society.
Attended by a selected audience of about 100 people, the
seminar, held at the East Nusa Tenggara Legislative Council
building, was lively, as political scientists seized on the
'civil society' idea just as fervently as they had taken up the
issues of human rights, democracy and political openness back in
the late 1980s.
In the presence of local bureaucrats and lawmakers, there was
blasting criticism of the bureaucracy as fresh ideas flowed
freely between academics from numerous universities.
"The civil society issue is really camouflage for the debate
on democratization and human rights," said Riswandha Imawan, a
political science lecturer at the Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada
University.
The message of the seminar appears to be similar to earlier
demands for democracy, even though it takes a different form:
That the government should provide some space for the people to
express their creativity and use their resources.
Further, the present situation retards the emergence of
"serving leaders" as opposed to "ruling leaders", a political
problem which hampers the democratization process, participants
argued.
A mature civil society, by contrast, enables the public to
participate in decision-making and guarantees that people have
the right to fair treatment by the state apparatuses, it was
contended.
According to Riswandha, the ruling elite is watching the
growth of the civil society movement with suspicion, in the same
way that they responded to earlier campaigns for democratization
and human rights.
The movement, he says, is not a form of rebellion as some
bureaucrats think. "The underlying principle is that 'I don't
criticize the government, I support the government critically,'"
he said.
The growth of the civil society movement is apparent from the
increasing number of cases in which citizens dare to oppose
government policies, he said.
Over the past couple of years, Indonesia has witnessed several
such "rebellions", when people have rejected leaders that the
central government has selected for them.
These included in the election of provincial governors,
regents and in the leadership elections of the Indonesian
Democratic Party (PDI) in December 1993 and the Nahdlatul Ulama,
a large Moslem organization, in December 1994.
The seminar, the 12th that AIPI has conducted since its birth
10 years ago, is billed as focusing on "leadership and civil
society towards the 21st century."
AIPI officials said the theme reflects their concern about the
trend of political development in recent years; in which, they
argue, society finds itself "powerless" in the face of the strong
government.
AIPI chairman Nazaruddin Syamsuddin said that, to make things
worse, feudalistic attitudes are still rife within Indonesian
society, a phenomenon which further hampers the growth of
democracy.
"Our nation is challenged to develop a civil society which is
autonomous and has some sort of civic competence to formulate,
discuss and communicate their problems, and to achieve common
well-being," he said.