Road to democracy still long for Indonesia

Road to democracy still long for Indonesia

As a young nation, Indonesia has to grapple with a myriad of
issues including those of peaceful leadership succession.
Political analyst J. Soedjati Djiwandono shares his thoughts on
the issue.

JAKARTA (JP): None of us, however smart, competent or
powerful, is indispensable. The world will still go round without
any of us around. This is something everyone in power,
particularly national leaders, must always remember.

To think otherwise is to believe in a myth. And such a myth is
often the creation of a leader as well as of his or her own
people. This seems to be the case of Indonesia today.

The blame for the present leadership crisis in the country,
which is the primary cause of the current crisis of confidence,
therefore, must be put equally on the shoulders of both the
leader and the public, neither of whom have any experience of
peaceful change of leadership, and who cherish the myth of a
philosopher king.

The feudal mentality that pervades the country has been
manifested in other ways too. For one thing, no one dares to
challenge the incumbent leader. Also, it has been considered
unethical for some time even to talk openly about succession.

For a leader to refuse to step aside, even though he has
outlived his relevance and usefulness, out of fear that no one is
up to the task, is a monstrous exaggeration of his role and
importance. It is also an insult to this great nation of more
than 200 million people.

Indeed, there is no better way for a leader to demonstrate his
greatness and caliber than by knowing when to step down and doing
just that. The time will always come, sooner or later, when
enough is enough.

Different visions and different approaches are required to
face different challenges and to deal with different problems
posed by changing times. These require new leadership. Everyone
has his or her time.

It is against such a background that Megawati Soekarnoputri's
challenge to the candidacy of President Soeharto for his seventh
consecutive term is to be appreciated. So is the case of Amien
Rais, the chairman of the Moslem organization Muhammadiyah who
has also declared his candidacy.

To be sure, Megawati is legally out of the political power
structure; out of the system, as it were, for her continued claim
to the leadership of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) has
been denied official recognition, which is a mockery of
democracy.

As for Amien Rais, while his chairmanship of Muhammadiyah is
officially recognized by the government, the organization is not
a contestant in general elections, another farce in a nation that
claims to be democratic. On that account, Amien Rais is also out
of the political power structure.

In principle, however, the People's Consultative Assembly
(MPR), as the supreme governing body in the country's political
system, has the power to nominate anyone for the office of
president. Still I would not dare to speculate on the chances of
either Megawati or Amien.

That, in all events, is of little importance under the
circumstances. The phenomenon itself however is of great
significance for democratic progress here.

Mention should also be made of an open rejection of Soeharto's
renomination by one-and-a-half dozen scholars affiliated to the
government-owned Indonesian Institute of Sciences. Being civil
servants by definition, they are showing moral courage to express
publicly their independent opinions, as this puts their careers
at risk.

Those phenomena are indeed breakthroughs in Indonesian
democracy. They are signs of democratic progress. Who knows, they
may be just the tip of an iceberg. If they should fall on deaf
ears, however, in view of the large number of yes-men occupying
the seats of the nation's representative bodies, particularly the
government-dominated MPR, it is only to be expected. The nation
still has a long way to go on the road toward a sound democratic
life.