Thinking the unthinkable?

Discussing the future of this country's politics can be like placing oneself between a rock and a hard place. The veracity of this can be seen in the recent tempest triggered by Nahdlatul Ulama ((NU) politicians, who after being disappointed by the congress of the United Development Party (PPP), are suggesting establishing a new political entity.

The strong reactions against the idea from a great variety of circles are understandable. Under the present political system, even talking about a new political party is tantamount to thinking the unthinkable and contemplating doing the undoable because it runs counter to the law on political parties and a decree issued by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), the country's highest law-making body.

What concerns many political observers about the fuss is perhaps the possibility that NU's past will repeat itself in a very deleterious way. It seems that every time NU politicians -- mostly theologians with solid backgrounds in tradition -- speak about political formats, the public is always reminded of their apparent willingness to compromise and accept reconditioning, both psychologically and politically, within the flux of circumstances.

What makes things even more ominous is that besides speaking about a new party, these theologians-turned-politicians have also been talking about joining the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI). To well informed observers, the very idea of this borders on the comic because the wide divergence in the political convictions and concepts of the two groups guarantees that they would be odd bedfellows indeed.

Now, with the shadow of politicking looming ever larger in the background, KH Yusuf Hasyim, the most experienced politician among the ulemas, has shed a different light on the matter. Speaking in a personal capacity, Yusuf said that the idea of setting up a new political party was provoked by what he sees as the tragic decline of democracy demonstrated by the inability of the present political entities -- Golkar, PPP and PDI -- to accommodate the people's aspirations.

The idea of establishing a new party, he said as quoted by Pelita daily on Wednesday, is not for today, nor for the very immediate future. He foresees such a move as feasible between one to six years from now.

Yusuf, who has occasionally acted like a middle-of-the-roader with distinguishable sangfroid in many crises, spoke straightforwardly, without misleading euphemisms or the use of hollow jargon. He clearly stated that he believes that up to five parties would be good for Indonesia; anathema to the general belief that three is company and four is a crowd in the political domain.

According to the political calendar, in 1998 the MPR will meet to decide on the new set of guidelines of state policy for the following five years and to elect a new head of state, or re- elect the incumbent as it has done since 1977.

This line of thinking is the first of its kind to emerge from a politician with deep roots in tradition. In the past the need for the expansion of the current political format was aired by pro-democracy organizations and students.

Yusuf's move shows that more people of increasingly divergent backgrounds now believe that the political format set out 20 years ago is no longer relevant to today's conditions. The general view seems to be that the current system does not allow enough room for the political groupings to maneuver within the framework of the nation's constitution.

In this view, the parties are perceived as not having played an optimal role is setting out the basis for the nation's five- year development programs. Nor are the political organizations viewed as having been brave enough to nominate their own presidential candidates, to function adequately to channel the people's aspirations, nor as having been successful in expressing opinions that obligate the administration to introduce changes.

In light of all of this, Yusuf, with his idea of setting aside once and for all the trauma among members of the ruling elite with the multi-party system under former president Sukarno's rule, seems to be very optimistic.

What makes him so optimistic is not clear. It could be that he has in the forefront of his mind the strong possibility that the MPR members emerging after the 1997 general elections and the nation's president -- whoever that may be after the 1998 presidential poll in the MPR -- will see that the current three political entities need competition to make them more viable means of creating an increasingly democratic climate.

Whether we agree with his opinion or not, Yusuf's thoughts are noteworthy. And we are of the opinion that there is nothing wrong with his being optimistic because optimism is not a sin.