Thinking the unthinkable?

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.