Siswono says unity chosen over democracy

JAKARTA (JP): If ever Indonesia has to choose between democracy and unity, it will certainly pick the latter, says Minister of Transmigration Siswono Yudohusodo.

Siswono, who was an activist during the heyday of student movements in the 1960s, told around 200 youngsters attending a discussion on democratization on Thursday evening that the need to manage the potentially-polarizing diversity of the nation is of the utmost importance to its survival.

"We recognize, respect differences among us...it would not be wise to suppress them, because it may create other forms of expressions which are usually destructive in nature," he said.

"Differences of opinion are tolerated, as long as they stay within the frame of national unity. We don't want arbitrary, unlimited differences, such as the ones shown by people engaging in secessionist movements like Free Aceh or Free Papua," he said.

He pointed out that the essence of democratization lies, among other things, in the fact that a nation needs wisdom to be able to accept the importance of unity over heterogeneity.

"Put in the extreme, if ever we have to choose between democracy and unity, we will choose unity," Siswono said.

The discussion was held by the Association of Hindu Youths and also featured political observer Marzuki Darusman and legislator Oka Mahendra.

"It's very important for us to establish a culture where differences are resolved in peaceful, critical, mature and civilized manners," he said. "We need to manage differences in such a way which also fosters democracy, because we realize that, for this heterogeneous nation, democracy is a strategic necessity."

Siswono explored at length various aspects related to the issue of democratization, including the implementation of an electoral system and the existence of three political groupings which he believed were adequate.

"Democracy as a system does not guarantee that processes involved in it will proceed in a democratic manner," he said. Some people, he added, have not advanced from the stage where they interpret democracy as merely the right to protest and place demands at the expense of their "duty to give".

He said democracy tolerates conflicts, but should also know when to end them and reach consensus by prioritizing the interests of something bigger.

"Democracy is a consensus," he concluded. "Protracted conflicts are not democracy. They are anarchy, and in an anarchic situation, democracy would not thrive."

Marzuki Darusman, a member at the National Commission for Human Rights, focused on the role of youngsters in democratization. He warned against political groupings wishing to exploit the younger generation to further their own interests.

"At present, Indonesian youth is more 'used' politically rather than having political roles of their own to play," he said.

The former legislator from the ruling Golkar organization defined "political roles" as a more active position born out of the younger people's own initiatives. "The political function or use of the youngsters, by contrast, is established by the system which does not involve the youngsters only," he said.

He believed that society should give fair and balance positions for both roles of the youngsters.

One of the most important challenges of democratization is how to improve the younger people's force within the existing constellation of social and political structure, he said.

Only by improving the social and political groupings' roles, he said, can Indonesia find a more just political process.

"At present, the existing social and political institutions behave like a cartel," he said. "They strive to maintain their monopoly over political representation, have greater tendency to maintain good relations with the government, and always ask the people or the public to just understand." (swe)