'Strong government should be balanced with basic rights'

JAKARTA (JP): The government must forge a trusting relationship with the people by letting their dynamic ideas contribute to the overall development process of the country, political observers said yesterday.

Afan Gaffar, a lecturer at Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University, affirmed the continued need for a strong executive government in Indonesia, but he also underlined the necessity for greater political freedom and openness.

"Our society still needs a strong executive supported by a dominant political party," said Afan. "On the other hand, people should have more opportunities to become involved in the political process and enjoy political rights."

Afan pointed out that the country's diversity necessitated a government strong enough to implement various programs. Nevertheless, he added that the fruits of economic development have brought fourth demands for mass participation in the political process.

"A strong government should be balanced with, or at least have the perception of maintaining, basic rights of every citizen which should include freedom of assembly, freedom of expression and freedom of the press," said the postgraduate lecturer of political science.

Hasnan Habib, a retired army general and former ambassador to the U.S., also focused on the need for greater openness saying that political development, which was sacrificed in the past for economic development, now needed more attention.

Conditions

Both Hasnan and Afan were speakers yesterday at the beginning of a two-day seminar on "The Exercise of Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution in an Era of Globalization," held at the National Resiliency Institute (Lemhanas).

In his presentation, Hasnan admitted that conditions in the past required civil and political rights to be eschewed for the sake of economic development.

"The people were minor players, or just observers. You cannot expect much political participation from people living in poverty," said Hasnan, the co-chairman of the Council for Security and Cooperation in Asia-Pacific.

With the relative success of Indonesia's economic development, both speakers felt there was now a clear need to correct a deficiency in political development and democracy.

"Using the general indicators of empirical democracy...we can assess that Indonesian democracy in the New Order is far from both academically or politically expectations," Afan said.

He pointed to the existing "water-tight" political environment in which all political activity is carefully scrutinized.

"Room for positions and thoughts contrary to the government, if they exists, is limited on the grounds that Pancasila democracy does not recognize opposition," Afan said.

Permits

Afan said one example of the controls being placed on society is the permit requirements for public seminars and discussions.

The government has made it illegal to hold a public debate involving more than five persons without first obtaining a permit.

Apart from braking up seminars for not having permits, the government has also rejected permit requests for seminars on issues it considered politically sensitive.

Hasnan Habib aimed specific criticism at the permit system. "If the basis for employing the permit system is derived from a mistrust of the people, then it means we have returned to the colonial age," he argued.

He added that the permit requirement contradicts the basic principle of sovereignty in which the state is responsible for the people -- not the other way around.

In the same gist, Hasnan further noted that although the 1945 Constitution demands a strong state it does not call for one which is at the point of being authoritarian or even totalitarian.

"The Constitution does not intend for the government to rule all aspects of people's lives, especially their private lives," Hasnan explained.

"Democracy is a logical consequence in man's natural progression," he said in closing. (mds)