Student protests may spur the race for reform

Student protests may spur the race for reform

Debate over political and economic reforms keeps on rolling,
with the government asserting it has been doing this for a long
time. Political analyst J. Soedjati Djiwandono , one who does not
ascribe to the above view, argues that political reform cannot
wait.

JAKARTA (JP): As the supreme governing body of the country's
political system, the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) is the
most capable of implementing the necessary reforms. Yet it seems
doubtful the State Policy Guidelines decreed by the MPR in its
March General Session do embody the necessary steps toward
political reform, a claim of the government.

To emphasize that reform must be constitutional -- as if
implying that the students' demands are unconstitutional -- is
redundant. By definition, reform is a change within and through
the existing constitution. But it is not just any kind of change.
The change ought to be toward improvement, and therefore forms
part of democratization. Thus it is highly doubtful if reform has
been implemented even since the proclamation of independence,
another assertion of the government.

In principle, reform is still possible, despite the
ossification of the current political system, if only there is
the political will to do it. This means the MPR must first reform
itself. The resulting given is that reform must start above all
with the political parties, for most MPR members are
representatives of these.

Political parties should be independent from governmental
interference in their internal affairs, for government is
basically their own creation on behalf of the people. This needs
to be translated into a drastic change in their statutes and
bylaws.

But judging by the performance of the MPR members in their
recent General Session or, for that matter, practically all the
Assemblies under the New Order, it seems doubtful if they are
even interested in the issue.

But we must remember that human beings are not apples. Once an
apple begins to rot, the process cannot be arrested. A human
being, meanwhile, can repent anytime and improve or reform,
learning from past mistakes, if only he or she has the will to do
so.

The essence of democracy is people's participation in a
balanced distribution of power in decision-making -- though
indirectly in a modern democracy -- and thus the creation of a
system of checks and balances as a complex mechanism of effective
control. Our present political system is not working or
functioning properly in that sense.

That is to say, power has tended to be increasingly
concentrated in the hands of the executive. This means a
decreasing participation of the people in decision making, and
thus in exercising effective control over the use of power.

Political parties serve as vehicles for people's
participation. A general election is an initial stage of that
participation and an initial form of the control mechanism. This
will develop into a system of checks and balances.

Separation and balanced distribution of power among state
institutions is a form of participation and control by the
people. A limitation on the terms of the President, for instance,
is just one such form of control. And it is the effective
mechanism of control that ensures good and clean government.

Unless the political parties, and thus the dominant members of
the MPR, do not reform themselves, we would have to wait for the
younger generation of Indonesians who will take their places.
Hence, the significance of political education of young people to
prepare them for the necessary reform in the future. By no means
am I referring here to the indoctrination of the Pancasila
orientation course (P4).

Herein lies an inherent vicious circle. We cannot rely on the
current shoddy system of formal education; reform of the
educational system would form part of political reform.

In this economic crisis, however, political reform is an
urgent and absolute necessity. We are racing against time.
Without reform, it is hard to imagine what may happen to the
nation's social, political and economic life.

This is the significance of the student protests. They will
hopefully help wake those "representatives of the people" from
their lethargy, inertia and complacency so that they open their
eyes to realize the enormity of the crisis, with all its possible
dire consequences and implications for the people. They then may
be able to overcome their reluctance and fear to initiate reform.

If the question still remains, the answer is in the
affirmative: student protests may indeed help accelerate the
efforts for reform.