The new sensation of being hopeful

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.