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