Scholars lament RI's infant state of democracy

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's inability to put the principles of democracy into place may explain the public's disenchantment with the political system here, said a political observer over the weekend.

Soedjati Djiwandono said at a seminar on democracy last Saturday that Indonesia has yet to practice the principles of democracy set out in the 1945 Constitution.

"Indonesia has yet to maximize the functioning of its political system to make democracy grow," he said in the seminar held at Gadjah Mada University.

The one-day seminar co-sponsored by The Jakarta Post and the university also featured well-known political observers Cornelis LAY, Dien Syamsudin, Amir Santoso and Riswandha Imawan.

Soedjati, also a director at the Jakarta-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that the government needs to revitalize the system rather than change it.

"The system should be developed in line with public demands as suggested in the Constitution itself," he argued.

Soedjati pointed out that many things remain unclear in the country's "Pancasila democracy".

"Does democracy really work? And what exactly is meant by the familial principles that are supposed to become the basis of all decision-making processes?" he said.

In reality, he said, the government bureaucracy is too strong. The House of Representatives is not being allowed to play its checks-and-balances role and there is next to no government accountability to the people.

"I can accept the Constitution's mandate that the executive body should be stronger than the legislative body. But, as the constitution states, the President's power should be limited," he said.

In Yogyakarta, at a separate seminar on the development of democracy organized by Catholic Sanata Dharma University, the university's political scholar G. Moedjanto said that Indonesian officials should show that they respect the principles of democracy when they make state decisions.

Indonesian culture, he said, will allow for democracy to flourish if government officials set a good example.

"Unfortunately, many of our state policies are against the principles of democracy," he said. (har/pan)