The new sensation of being hopeful

This is the second of two articles by noted talk show host Wimar Witoelar on the feelings of Indonesians ahead of the New Year.

JAKARTA (JP): What about President Abdurrahman Wahid himself? Is he performing up to expectations? Many say he should not travel abroad so much. There is even a joke that Gus Dur, as the President is often called, will not travel to Aceh unless it becomes an independent country, because then he can travel abroad to visit Aceh. Jokes aside, I have no problem with the President's overseas trips. In fact, we should be grateful that he found a shortcut for Indonesia to regain its credibility. You may remember that the BBC described Indonesia as being close to a pariah nation.

Gus Dur's intelligent performances during his trips have dispelled this notion. Every new leader wants to make official visits abroad. B.J. Habibie angled for an invitation from Bill Clinton three days after he took office. He eventually went to Malaysia, but did not dare spend the night there. So it has been Gus Dur who has put us back on the map of respectable nations, and that is the best thing he could have done for national consolidation.

Now the big one. A British scholar warned about a widespread sense of alarm over national disintegration, a devolution of power and a possible military takeover. I do not see any of these things. Maybe I have to go far, far away from Indonesia to see things the way these scholars see them, because sitting here I do not sense that kind of alarm. What I see is the growth of a civil society, of a militant and progressive politically conscious young population. A lot of things are happening under the surface. The younger generation is not that much concerned about Gus Dur and Megawati, because they know the country cannot rely on them. The country relies on the people.

The current leadership is not the choice of the people who started the reform movement, and if they neutralize the Army and the New Order, or at least weaken them a little, then that is good enough. Because the new generation does not rely on the current government or any of the people who hold power now. As Budiman Sudjatmiko, the bright leader of the Democratic People's Party (PRD), says, the elite is full of opportunists and social climbers.

But who is to worry? Day to day we meet people in their jobs, at student meetings, in countless organizations, who are taking the future into their own hands. This is where you sense the feeling of optimism that does not register with the scholars. But in deference to the international scholars, maybe I should go far, far away so I do not get too optimistic and celebrate things which I should not celebrate.

Aceh is the real dilemma today, because we are fighting over something which is the fault of people long gone from the scene. How do we address the needs of an entire population in Aceh, and possibly other places, demanding autonomy and even independence? First of all, we should realize that a lot of people in Indonesia are starting to realize that human dignity and liberty are far more important than any arrangement of statehood. For the younger political generation it does not matter too much what form of autonomy, what form of federalist status, or even what form of independence is granted to the provinces.

As long as the people in Aceh are good friends with the people in Indonesia, it is fine. That is what happened in East Timor. The territory's leader, Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao, is a very good friend of the Indonesian government. The Indonesian prodemocracy movement and the East Timorese political movement are friends. We are friends with the Timorese, we are friends with the Acehnese.

But these friends were not heard from for a long time, because for decades they could speak only at the risk of death. They are now crying out their bitter disappointment at the two previous regimes. They are against the abuse of human rights, against corruption. Now the current government is not a government of human rights abuse and corruption, but how can the Acehnese be sure if they do not see real proof?

We just have to hope that eventually they will see, and that the people of Aceh will change their minds accordingly. In any case, we are not in a position to dictate to them what they should think. They have every right to be watching out for themselves. They have every right to demand independence. The question will have to be resolved on an equal basis. The Acehnese have to be the subject of politics, not the object of political manipulation.

Independence for Aceh will not spell disaster for the country. If it should ever come to that, there are many forms of independence which retain strong historical ties. We should shift our attention from current outbursts of emotion to the preparation of a common future. We should realize that the grievances of the people of Aceh have not been addressed, and if you are facing a very hurt person, you do not cure his or her problem by lecturing. You have to do things which prepare you to talk to them, in the meantime making the person feel comfortable with you.

It would not make sense for Gus Dur and Megawati to go to Aceh right now for discussions. What is there to discuss? Promises have not been kept, although the promises were given by Habibie and Soeharto. This government has not had the time really to do anything different.

This is the situation, which we have to face with sobriety. The people of Aceh are disappointed and we will have to cater to their disappointment in different ways. In, say, imposing sanctions against military personnel who abuse human rights, in returning the economic rights of the province. There is not much choice for the government beyond doing positive things and allowing the dynamics of the process to go on.

We must learn from experience, not pretend to hand down solutions from the top to the bottom. We have to leave things to the people and see where it leads. The government has to watch the people, not the other way around. That is the message at the year's end, and we may yet see it become reality.