'Reformasi' disenfranchised: Sutiyoso and Komnas HAM

Max Lane, Center for Asia Pacific Social Transformation Studies, University of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia

Two recent developments in the political scene underline clearly how the reformasi sector of society has become disenfranchised from the political process. During the last 10 years of the Soeharto New Order dictatorship a social sector developed comprising advocacy organizations (NGOs), human rights institutions, trade unions, peasant organizations, women groups, even anti-dictatorship political parties, student activist coalitions and, most importantly, scores of action committees around different local issues.

It was this large, but dispersed, sector, led by the student movement that forced Soeharto's resignation and invented the term reformasi. But this sector has been quickly disenfranchised; marginalized from the decision making process of government and legislature.

This marginalization is very evident in the case of the selection of the next governor of Jakarta. The major parties, at least at the national leadership level, are supporting the current governor, Sutiyoso. Sutiyoso, military commander of Jakarta the last years of the New Order, cannot in any way be seen as a product or representative of the "reform" sector.

If anything, Sutiyoso must be categorized still as a representative of the New Order era, who has survived into the era reformasi.

There have been several well-known personalities who have come forward from the reformasi sector to register as candidates of the governorship. These include a leading activist from the urban poor sector, Rasdullah a leader of many of Jakarta's pedicab drivers, as well as women activist Ratna Sarumpaet and human rights activist, Nursyahbani Katjasungkana, who is standing as a candidate for Deputy Governor.

From the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) itself there is also a candidate who directly reflects the reformasi sector among the grass-roots of the party. But as Endy Bayuni pointed out in The Jakarta Post on July 8, these candidates have no real chance of competing for the position of governor because the public itself, society itself, has been excluded from the process.

The public is excluded from the process insofar as it can be said that the existing dominant political parties have become alienated from the public and are perceived as instruments of the elit politik rather than representatives of some popular constituency.

It is important to use the Indonesian term elit politik than "political elite" here. The alienation of the professional politicians of the parties in the legislature from the rest of society has created the term elit politik as a term with specific negative connations, inferring disinterest in the concerns and welfare of the mass of ordinary people.

There is a huge political gap between this elit politik and mass consciousness. One reflection of this is the gap between the elit politik and the reformasi sector.

Apart from the Jakarta governorship another recent example has been the election of new members of the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas).

Members of the House of Representatives from the elit politik met to vote on who should be new members of the Commission. The vote was preceded by a series of hearings before a parliamentary commission. Among those who were candidates were a number of figures and activists from the reformasi sector, including some who have or have had reputations for being vocal and, sometimes, confrontational with the authorities.

The most high profile vocal figures of this sector were Wardah Hafidz, from the Urban Poor Consortium and Hendardi, a human rights lawyer received very low votes from the legislators. T. Mulya Lubis, a human rights lawyer who has also established a respected law firm, also received insufficient votes. As a founder of the Yap Thian Hien Human Rights Award and as a commentator, Lubis has been a vocal critic of corruption. The elit politik chose mostly non-reformasi sector people or the least vocal or confrontative to be the new members.

Indeed the major parties are not creations of the opposition process to the New Order, or where they did have some oppositional role, as with the PDI Perjuangan in 1996, that aspect of their past is being suppressed. As a result, reformasi is not represented in the House.

One of the reasons is that the reformasi sector itself has not fully realized its potential for producing a political alternative of its own. In 1996, student and worker activists formed the Peoples Democratic Party (PRD). Despite being repressed during the 1996-1998 period, the PRD has been able to survive and to maintain a significant level of activism.

Labor movement figure, Mochtar Pakpahan and anti-Soeharto figure, Sri Bintang Pamungkas, have both formed political parties. Among the scores of new parties being registered for the next elections, there may even be others that originate from among NGOs, worker or peasant organizations, women groups, the student movement or action committees.

But while there has been a national women's movement congress in 1998, there has been no general people's conference or assembly that could harness all the energies and ideas of the reformasi sector and that could hammer out a minimum set of agreed policies. The Indonesian Peoples Forum in Bali in June, had a limited agenda and participation.

At a public meeting on July 11 at the Jakarta Media Center, several figures from the reformasi sector indicated support or interest in the concept of a "peoples' congress" on how the reformasi sector could present itself as an alternative to the elit politik. Among those who indicated some support were Revrisond Baswir, a critical economist from Gajah Mada University; Haris Rusly Moti from the Peoples Democratic Party (PRD); Akbar Zulfakkar from Indonesian Muslim Students Action Front (KAMMI), and Dita Indah Sari, from the Indonesian National Front For Labor Struggle (FNPBI).

Also present at the meeting was former president Abdurrhman Wahid. He expressed a more cautious approach, supporting the idea that some kind of unity was needed, but wanted more discussion before any concrete steps were taken.

How such a congress might be organized and what its agenda might be is still not clear. However, any step towards that might bring the reformasi sector together to move it closer to being able to present itself as a political alternative to the current elit politik.

Perhaps unity won't be achieved but the process will still help clarify which sector of the reformasi movement is willing and capable to do compete and struggle for governmental power.

While this reformasi sector does not develop, the elit politik will retain a monopoly over all the major political institutions.

Instead of being the motor of change, the reformasi sector will be doomed to beg always for some minor concessions or reforms from the elite. And even this will eventually wear out.