Team of Eleven has 'no political interest'
By Edith Hartanto and Riyadi
JAKARTA (JP): Nurcholish Madjid, the 60-year-old American- educated Muslim scholar is internationally acclaimed for his modern ideas on political and social matters.
Born in Jombang -- a small town known as East Java's Santri town because of a preponderance of traditional Islamic boarding schools -- the scholar, who is known for his warm, modest, open and egalitarian manner, is affectionately called Cak Nur by close friends.
The father of two, Nadia and Ahmad Mikail, and husband of Omi Komariah, has played a prominent role in society since his student activist days.
An alumni of the State Institute of Islamic Studies, Syarif Hidayatullah of Jakarta, Nurcholish was the only student to chair the influential Indonesian Islamic Students Association for two consecutive terms: 1967 to 1969 and 1969 to 1971.
Obtaining his doctoral degree in Islamic studies from the University of Chicago in 1984, Nurcholish is currently rector of Paramadina Mulya University, Jakarta, which opened last August.
He is also one of the founders of the Independent Election Monitoring Committee.
Nurcholish believes that the current political chaos plaguing Indonesia is a prerequisite in the shift to democracy.
"The key to a democratic nation are fair and honest elections. An election will remedy in part the current political chaos," Nurcholish said.
These beliefs propelled him to accept the government's offer to chair the Team of Eleven, a group of 11 independent figures assigned to verify political parties eligible for the upcoming election scheduled for June 7.
The other team members are: political scholars Miriam Budihardjo, Afan Gaffar, Eep Saefulloh Fatah and Andi A. Mallarangeng, noted lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution, former deputy chief justice Adi Andojo, social observers Kastorius Sinaga and Mulyana W. Kusumah and student activists Anas Urbaningrum and Rama Pratama.
"If Bu (Mrs) Miriam and the rest of the group had not been chosen, I would not have accepted the offer. This is a very tough job; we have less than a month to screen more than a hundred political parties."
The team's objective is to help the Election Committee which will be formed soon. Many commentators have proposed that the government appoint him a member of the election committee but Nurcholish said he would not accept the invitation.
"No way, not even if the sky fell on me! I do not want to become involved in the political side of things. Such a job doesn't suit me."
The following is an excerpt of The Jakarta Post's interview with Nurcholish.
Question: What has the Team Eleven been occupying itself with?
Answer: Our job is to observe and verify that political parties have fulfilled legal requirements to contest the election.
We have begun the verification process. Team members will go to East Java. I will not be going, because I have to attend a conference in the U.S., but I will be back around March 4.
We are doing the best we can to diminish the workload of the Election Committee. As per usual, there are people who doubt our credibility. You can be assured that we do not have any political interest (in the process).
As we have only a month to screen the political parties, if we can not beat the deadline, the Election Committee will have to continue the job. The team will disperse in March.
Q: Are the parties ready to contest the election?
A: Well established parties such as Golkar, the United Development Party (PPP) and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) under Megawati Soekarnoputri will have no problems meeting the requirements.
One has to accept that a great number of political parties are involved in a learning process about democracy. This is also new for us. It is a normal consequence that so many parties have been formed by people who were suppressed during the New Order regime.
It (political euphoria) is a consequence of a rapidly developing country. In fact, former president Soeharto was a victim of these consequences. The rapid pace of education, science and technology boosted people's knowledge.
The demand for democracy is becoming even stronger. When the push was too forceful, Soeharto had to live with this reality and he resigned.
The same thing happened to first president Sukarno, who was ousted by people who helped put him into power. History has repeated itself.
We should allow the great number of parties to contest the election, just as long as they abide by the rules, it's fine. At the moment, we are undergoing a learning process. The U.S. and Britain needed hundreds of years to become democratic nations.
Q: Where does the support for Team Eleven come from?
A: We have received support from various organizations who wish Indonesia to conduct a successful general election. I cannot mention them here. The Team of Eleven was formed out of grave concern for the health of the nation.
Some donors said that they would have provided support (even) if we (the team) had not been there.
The funds come from various foreign sources, but they will not interfere in the process because the funds are pooled by the United Nations Development Program.
Q: Which parties do you think stand a good chance to win the election?
A: Parties which have strong grassroots support will most likely have the best chance, such as the PDI Perjuangan or the National Awakening Party (PKB).
Q: People usually join campaigns just for fun. They will jump from one party to another, especially if rewarded. Would you like to comment on this phenomena?
A: The number of campaign participants could be manipulated as was evident in the 1955 multiparty elections. At that time, people moved in trucks from one area to another. I think they supported more than one party.
We have to guard against money politics, which also happens in other parts of the world. There is no election which is 100 percent fair. But an election remains the best mechanism for democracy.
Q: What are the prospects for the Islamic parties?
A: I think that in time, they will unite together. As for Islamic power, you have to understand the psychological background. Certain groups, for example Muslims who backed the Masyumi Party, have been suppressed and betrayed many times by the Sukarno and Soeharto regimes. They are resentful because they are still treated with suspicion in the reform era. This is very dangerous.
Soeharto was too late to restore an alliance with this group. Now we have Habibie, a name that sounds Arabic, unlike Sukarno or Soeharto.
You may be interested to know that Soeharto did not attend Friday prayers for dozens of years because he thought that participating would indicate involvement with Masyumi beliefs.
Habibie combines two qualities: he is a Muslim and a western- educated scholar. He has one foot in the Muslim camp and the other with the Soeharto group. This is a good combination.
We are now in the era of non-Javanese domination. We have many leaders that are not Javanese; this is good for the nation's democratic process.
Parties like Golkar and PPP will form an association and nominate Habibie for the presidency. Personally I think he should not run for the position, so that people will no longer harbor suspicions about him.
Q: What about the fears of looming chaos and the role of former president Soeharto in the poll?
A: The possibility of chaos is diminishing because people increasingly believe that an election is the key to solving the nation's problem.
As for Soeharto, what do you expect from a man who has ruled this country for 32 years? I think he's tired. He does not feel inclined to do anything.
The important thing is to have a leader who is supported by the majority of the people. However, this is a difficult realization because the President is elected by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), as is required by the Constitution.