PRD experimenting with socialism
The People's Democratic Party (PRD), a militant and nonconformist party, is one of the surprising hopefuls among 48 political parties contesting next month's elections. In this article, its leaders talk to The Jakarta Post about its vision and strategy for the polls.
JAKARTA (JP): First it waged its battles in the streets. Then it went underground. Now it is contesting the general election in the open in order to promote its own brand of socialism.
Now a fully legitimate election contestant, the People's Democratic Party (PRD) has no intention of shedding its image or reputation as a progressive and nonconformist party, even if by some miracle it wins some seats in the House of Representatives.
Street demonstrations and workers' strikes remain the most effective means by which PRD feels that the masses, whose interest it claims to represent, can affect real political changes.
If PRD is taking part in the elections, it is more for tactical reasons, to reach out to an audience which it could not otherwise, said Faisol Riza, head of the party's central committee.
"If we don't take part, we cannot build synergy. We see an opportunity to get our messages across, including our criticisms of the system, and on how people should respond," Faisol said.
He did not see any irony in PRD taking part in an election system it insisted was defective and undemocratic.
Faisol said PRD had spent the entire Rp 150 million budget allocated by the General Elections Commission to contestants on producing and disseminating leaflets, which among other statements, tells people that the elections will not be "honest and fair".
Although PRD falls short of calling a boycott, it said if people had to vote, they should choose one of the reformist parties. "It doesn't even have to be us," Faisol said.
However, if they rejected the electoral system, they should not resort to anarchy. "But they can stage demonstrations to make their feelings known," he said.
Dede Utomo, a member of the party's education and propaganda department, described the elections as providing "legitimate space" for PRD to carry out its political education mission.
"Whether we're represented in the House or not, we will continue to organize demonstrations and mass actions," Dede said.
The party was launched on July 22, 1996, by a group of activists who challenged the law that only allowed three political parties.
A week later, the party was blamed for inciting a riot in Jakarta; the military went as far as accusing the party of being an embryo of the new communist party. PRD leaders were arrested and the party was forced underground.
When the government allowed new political parties again last year, PRD returned to the scene. But chairman Budiman Sudjatmiko and secretary-general Petrus Hari Haryanto are still in jail, while a number of other activists are still missing.
Faisol has been in charge of the party's day-to-day affairs, although he and other executives meet with Budiman and Petrus twice a week in their prisons.
PRD is developing its own brand of socialism, what it calls "people's social democracy".
Faisol said models of socialism pursued in China and the Soviet Union failed to answer challenges of global capitalism because they could not deliver democracy. "I don't think socialism can survive the 21st century without democracy.
"We're experimenting with ideology, one that is really founded for the people."
He denied PRD was a communist party cloaked in socialism.
Such accusations were strengthened after the party recruited renowned writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer, who served years of hard labor in the 1970s, along with thousands of other members and supporters of the outlawed Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).
"We took Pramoedya not because of his PKI background but because of his strong commitment to freedom and his struggle against the regime that tried to silence him," Faisol said.
"We're not an embryo of a communist party. We're not even rooted in communism. We were born out of a student movement," he said, adding: "Many former PKI members disapprove of us."
But Faisol said PRD respected communism, and if anyone wished to establish a communist party, he or she should be allowed to in a democracy.
PRD took the same line with Pancasila, the state ideology.
"We're not too concerned about Pancasila as much as the attempt by some people to have a single interpretation of the ideology. We should debate Pancasila, point by point, (to see) whether it can answer the problems facing this country."
He said the third principle in Pancasila, national unity, could be irrelevant, since the world was moving to a borderless state. "We should shed our chauvinistic views on nationalism."
With 25,000 members, PRD is a small party by any standards, but its campaign platform is complete and very detailed, even to such items as "more playgrounds for children" in its education program, and "limiting the use of private vehicles".
In politics, PRD's program calls for democratization, abolition of the military's political role, amendments to the constitution, and moving from a presidential to a parliamentary system of government.
Where it differs significantly from other parties is in the methods of achieving its struggle: from within parliament and outside the political system.
Besides organizing mass protests, PRD has established working units, what it calls "people's councils" at village levels. These councils in Lampung had been used, for example, to lead local people to seize land they claim to be theirs, and to resolve village conflicts, including in one case, a divorce, Faisol said.
One area where PRD's platform could be appealing is in its struggle to empower discriminated groups in society: women, ethnic and racial minorities, sex workers, and gays, lesbians and transvestites.
Dede, who came out of the closet in the 1980s to launch the gay movement in Indonesia, said PRD accommodates the interests of these groups on the fringes of society. "I was particularly impressed by the progressive platform of PRD," Dede said, explaining his decision to join the party. (emb)