Reform movement is at a standstill

Recent events have threatened to bring the reform movement to a halt. Mochtar Mas'oed, lecturer in political science at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, proposes a way out to put its progression back on track.

Question: Many analysts believe that political reform has slowed down -- what is the problem?

Mochtar: The problem seems to have appeared at the very beginning of the student movement. At the level of idea formation, for example, university students, in an effort to look for a term acceptable to the government and the Armed Forces (ABRI), didn't want to use a word stronger than "reform", such as "revolution", even though what they wanted was actually more than reform.

When they were looking for support from other members of society, they also failed to form an organization that could be used as a vehicle to convey the idea.

The word reform, which was not clearly defined at the beginning, therefore could be easily misinterpreted by various parties, particularly the power holder. The government's appeal to put a high priority on providing an adequate supply of foodstuffs is quite distracting. In rural areas, reform is even misinterpreted as disobedience toward the authorities.

Thus, the word reform has become meaningless in line with the changes in the political situations, while proreform activists, who were united by the common issue of leadership succession, have disintegrated following the downfall of Soeharto on May 21. It is very difficult now to unite them because each of their factions has its own agenda and priorities.

Q: Is there a chance the reform will gain more speed?

M: I think, first, we have to redefine the political reform that we all want and set the priority of jobs. Because the major problem during the New Order government was the disempowerment of the people -- the political reform must lead to the empowerment of the people and the accountability of the government, including the president.

Some parties, for example, are suggesting that to make the government more accountable, the president should be elected directly by the people and must not be allowed to have discretionary power in the state's funds. All expenditures of the government must be well described as its budget plans and the Supreme Audit Agency must be empowered. The House of Representatives (DPR) must also be given authority to check the president.

ABRI's tasks must also be redefined. It must end its dual- function (as both a military and civilian authority) because its main task is to defend the integrity of Indonesian territory and protect the country from external attacks.

ABRI is now very weak and has no adequate military equipment to protect the country. If China, for example, attacked Indonesia from the South China Sea, ABRI would never be able to defend its territories. ABRI also has no adequate power to protect Indonesian waters from poaching by foreign fishing ships.

Ludicrously, ABRI has too many business activities throughout the country. ABRI, for instance, has a big interest in plantations and each of its branches -- the Army, Navy, Air Force and Police -- has cooperatives operating in various business sectors. As a result, the Indonesian Cooperatives Council is dominated by representatives from ABRI-related cooperatives.

Instead of improving professionalism and sophistication in defense equipment, military personnel are more interested in the trading of sugar, rice and other commodities, so that they feel it necessary to expand their presence throughout the country.

All these factors have caused difficulties in the management of military institutions. The abduction of political activists by military personnel, the shooting of demonstrators and other human rights violations indicate that ABRI is poorly coordinated.

Q: What is the fate of the reform movement if this situation prevails?

M: We have seen from the results of the recent extraordinary congress of the ruling Golkar party that the party will continue to be under the influence of the government and ABRI is not distancing itself from it.

If there is no correction in such a phenomenon, ABRI will have no constitutional incentive to change itself. Incentives are needed for the change of ABRI, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the DPR, presidency and other related institutions.

Q: How could we have a guarantee that the current amendment of political laws will lead to democratization?

M: There are actually many DPR and MPR members who want to see a political change but they are doubtful about their own fate if they take the initiative in that direction. They, therefore, must be assured that they will be supported by many circles if they change regulations that used to cause the disempowerment of the people.

However, I am sure that the ball of demand for democratization has been rolling, and preventing the ball from rolling will need substantial cost and power.

But if anarchic actions, like rioting and arson, continue happening and mass organizations like Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah fail to stop them, the military and the government would use such developments as a pretext to sustain their power. (riz)