The New Order, past and present
The People's Consultative Assembly last week returned President Soeharto to power for a seventh consecutive term and named a new Vice President. J. Soedjati Djiwandono contemplates the long road traveled by the New Order government from its inception up to the present day.
JAKARTA (JP): Since the same President has held power for over three decades, I imagine the present government continues to claim to be the New Order in Indonesia.
However, with the seventh Vice President since Bung Hatta of the Old Order and the seventh new cabinet, the New Order certainly has a new face.
I would not dare to argue on whether or not the new cabinet will weather the deepening economic crisis, the spreading social unrest and the demands for political reform sweeping society.
When faced with difficult circumstances, the national leadership has always urged the people to be introspective.
This time around, let me, in turn, urge the same from our leaders.
One way for the aging New Order to reflect is to ask whether it continues to remains true to the original ideals and aspirations which it brought onto the Indonesian political landscape. One can then assess whether the country is continuing to benefit from these ideals.
The first state address made by acting president Gen. Soeharto was delivered to the plenary session of the (provisional) House of Representatives on Aug. 16, 1967 to commemorate the 22nd anniversary of Indonesian independence.
In his maiden address he stated that "the ideological foundation of the New Order is Pancasila; the basis of the state of the New Order is the 1945 Constitution; the basis of its governance is pure dedication to the interests of the people at large."
The New Order, he said, would "conduct a total correction of all forms of deviation perpetrated by the Old Order."
"Deviation from Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution... had wide and deep consequences... human rights were almost non-existent, for everything was determined by the will of the authorities. Legal guarantee and protection hardly existed... The principle of the people's sovereignty became vague; what existed was the sovereignty of the leaders... the wealth of the state was used for personal interests... The system of guided economy in practice became a license system that benefited only a few close to the authorities."
Most importantly, he said that "the basis of the state had been gradually abandoned so that it had become a state based on power that was absolutist in nature. Supreme power was no longer held by the provisional People's Consultative Assembly, but in the hands of... President Soekarno himself."
The president was not subordinate to the provisional People's Consultative Assembly. On the contrary, the Assembly was subordinated to the president.
In his speech last week, delivered following reelection for a seventh consecutive, President Soeharto promised openness and his readiness to be open, to listen and to pay heed to criticism.
In this light, the first step he can take is to apply his criticism of the Old Order and its deviation from the ideals of the 1945 Constitution to his own "New Order" regime.