Realising Indonesia's true democracy based on Pancasila

Eighty-one years after Indonesia’s independence, democracy in this country has travelled a long road.

Indonesia has experienced Guided Democracy, a centralist New Order government, and Reformasi, which opened up far wider space for political freedom.

That long journey still leaves unfinished business and the deepest question of whether Indonesian democracy has found the form most suited to the character of its own nation.

The question matters because democracy should not stop at the procedure of electing leaders.

Democracy also concerns how power is exercised, how the people are heard, how weak groups gain space, and how political decisions deliver justice.

Reformasi did produce openness, but at the same time it brought political practice ever closer to liberalisation. High political costs, transactional politics, the influence of financiers, corruption, and the weakening of deliberation are seen as symptoms that need to be evaluated.

Direct democracy has also brought important progress that must not be ignored. Society has gained a greater right to determine its leaders, freedom of expression has grown, changes of power take place more openly, and public officials face stronger public scrutiny.

Therefore, the issue is not a choice between democracy and Pancasila. The real challenge is to make democracy work in an increasingly Pancasila-oriented way.