RI must consolidate its base for democracy

RI must consolidate its base for democracy

TOKYO: It was the classic story of a politician falling prey
to the corrupting effects of political power.

Indonesia's People's Consultative Assembly, the nation's
highest legislative body, has dismissed embattled President
Abdurrahman Wahid in a vote that automatically installed Vice
President Megawati Soekarnoputri to replace him.

Abdurrahman declared a state of emergency in a last-minute effort to
avoid impeachment, but the assembly overrode his order. The
military and police, responsible for keeping order, refused to
obey the president and backed the assembly.

The peaceful transition, achieved in a precarious situation
that could have disintegrated into a bloody clash of Abdurrahman
loyalists and Abdurrahman opponents, should be welcomed.

Claiming that he had been illegally deposed, Abdurrahman refused to
concede and would not leave the presidential palace. But to no
avail. By attempting to cling to power, Abdurrahman stood only to
further besmirch his tattered presidential legacy.

Abdurrahman took office two years ago with a promise of true
democracy, encouraging public criticism of the president or
anyone with power. His words were like a gospel of freedom for
those who had endured the harsh suppression of free speech that
marked president Soeharto's autocracy.

Abdurrahman was keenly aware of the need to attack widespread
corruption and cronyism to promote democracy in Indonesia. Facing
fierce resistance from those with ties to the old regime willing
to resort to terrorism against opponents, Abdurrahman sought to reveal
the full scope of the Soeharto family's vast accumulation of ill-
gotten wealth.

But Abdurrahman became embroiled in a political finance scandal and
began rejecting criticism. It was the classic story of a
politician falling prey to the corrupting effects of political
power.

Megawati, Indonesia's new leader, is the eldest daughter of
Sukarno, the nation's founding president. She was born to luxury.

Her father was ousted when she was 18, however, and she was
persecuted.

In a general election two years ago, Megawati's Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle won the most seats in the national
assembly with broad support of those who saw her as the symbolic
leader of victims of Soeharto tyranny. But she lost to Abdurrahman in
the presidential vote in the assembly, in part because Islamic
parties objected to having a woman as head of state.

The sequence of events leading to Abdurrahman's downfall and
Megawati's succession brought forth all the structural flaws of
the Indonesian political system.

The People's Consultative Assembly, which impeached the Muslim
cleric, includes parliamentarians and local and organization
representatives. It was once a legislature that endorsed
dictatorship. Its power to hold the president accountable for his
actions was nominal and never used. That is why the president has
no power to dissolve it.

Once Indonesia was bound for democracy, however, the assembly
gained real power and became a formidable institution. This time,
it probed the Abdurrahman scandal and eventually ousted him, blaming
him for all the nation's present political turmoil. It all smells
of political strife unrelated to what people want.

If the assembly gets into the habit of jeopardizing the office
of the presidency, political strife will continue unabated,
contributing to the broad perception that a civilian politician
can never be a good leader and encouraging selection of a
military ruler.

Indonesia's flawed political system is a ubiquitous relic of
the Soeharto area that bedevils society. Megawati's primary
mission is to free Indonesia from such relics and build a solid
foundation of democracy to ensure political stability.

-- The Asahi Shimbun