Searching for new development alternatives

By Aleksius Jemadu

BANDUNG (JP): The urgency of establishing a new development model for crisis-stricken economies in Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia, is self-evident. Whatever the final outcome of the elections, the new government will have to formulate a new development model to combine economic liberalization and political democratization. As it has turned out, the past combination of authoritarianism and economic growth has failed, and therefore will be abandoned. What kind of political economy should Indonesia have in the post-Soeharto era?

Unfortunately, during the campaign period major reform- oriented political parties such as the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the National Mandate Party (PAN), which are seen as likely to dominate the House of Representatives, failed to convince the public that they have the capacity to propose new development alternatives. Most of their campaign statements were too conventional.

For instance, in one television advertisement, the leader of PDI Perjuangan, Megawati Soekarnoputri, declared with a loud voice the nation's big problems such as massive unemployment, outrageous foreign debt and millions of school dropouts. And then came her party's promise to solve all those problems. However, we were not told how her party would go about overcoming these problems.

Rarely, if ever, did reform-oriented party leaders explain their new conception of development. Their popularity owes more to the victimization of Soeharto than to their own brilliant ideas. Reform-oriented political leaders do not deserve people's support if they are only good at pinpointing Soeharto's mistakes but poor at providing alternative solutions.

A few years before the economic crisis hit Indonesia, the World Bank praised the Indonesian government for its success in liberalizing the economy while sustaining economic growth. However, it seemed to be indifferent, if not blind, to the authoritarian and corrupt nature of the political regime which, as it has turned out, only led to the impoverishment of millions of people.

Today Indonesians can no longer accept the idea that human rights and democratization can be dispensed with in the name of economic development. The new government should be able to give a proper response to people's demands for democracy and economic growth.

It is argued that in the postcrisis era, Indonesia's major development objectives remain essentially the same. They include the generation of political stability and order as favorable conditions to economic development and economic growth itself. What then is the difference between the old development model and the new one as far as the accomplishment of these objectives is concerned?

First, under the old authoritarian political regime, the government monopolized the interpretation of the meaning of their policy objectives in such a way that it could manipulate them for the benefit of a privileged few. Now the government is obliged to convince the people that it has good political morality to justify its policy objectives. Thus, the meaning of political stability and economic development and the way these objectives are achieved have to be morally and politically justified.

Second, in the old era centralization of power was used as the main mechanism to generate political stability and order. In today's era of reform, there is a need to emphasize the principle of constitutionalism, the practice of which could lead to the establishment of state institutions capable of providing order, reliability and participation for various interests in society. Constitutionalism refers to a strong commitment to apply constitutional principles in organizing and implementing political power through state institutions. For instance, the legislative body should check the implementation of presidential power so that it cannot violate the constitution.

Third, if in the past, open opposition to government policies was prohibited, now the political parties that do not join the ruling government coalition should be allowed to function as opposition forces in the parliament to ensure effective control to prevent the abuse of political power by the executive body.

Fourth, an excessive reliance on the mobilization of foreign capital has led our economy into a debt trap. Isn't it high time now to develop a better appreciation and utilization of our own domestic resources? According to a report in the June 10 edition of Far Eastern Economic Review, other crisis-hit economies like South Korea and Thailand now tend to emphasize domestic economies to stimulate new growth.

Given the abundance of Indonesia's natural resources and the existence of a huge market for consumer goods, there is no reason why we cannot try such strategy here.

With these new development alternatives, Indonesia still has a chance to see a brighter day tomorrow.

The writer is a lecturer of the Department of International Relations at the Parahyangan Catholic University in Bandung.