Unclean administration 'caused recent riots'
Unclean administration 'caused recent riots'
YOGYAKARTA (JP): Recent widespread sectarian and ethnic unrest
was partly caused by an unclean administration, a sociologist
concluded.
Loekman Soetrisno of Gadjah Mada University told a seminar on
Indonesia's plurality here Tuesday that the polarizing forces of
ethnic and religious groups were undeniably part of Indonesia,
but they would not have erupted into sectarian and ethnic clashes
had they not been triggered by a "structural factor".
Ethnic conflicts, such as those between the Makasar people and
East Timorese in East Timor and the Madurese and Dayaks in West
Kalimantan, were a product of the nation's fundamental problems.
He said Singapore and Malaysia had relatively harmonious
inter-ethnic relations "because they had clean governments".
"Because the government is clean, justice is guaranteed, so
there are no loopholes for exploiting (ethnic and sectarian)
issues to mobilize people."
Loekman suggested that Indonesia take "affirmative action" to
prevent the exploitation of sectarian and ethnic issues. One way
to do this was to give natives as many opportunities as possible
to develop economically.
He said a clean and respected government was most important,
and it should not be swayed by political interests.
Indonesians should also learn to provide opportunities for
political participation to people of foreign descent, including
the ethnic Chinese, he said.
"This would help dispel the misperception that Chinese people
are only interested in the economy and don't care about the fate
of the nation as a whole," he said.
Other speakers at the seminar at the Indonesian Islamic
University included political analyst Muhammad A.S. Hikam from
the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Ahmad Syafii Maarif from
the Muhammadiyah Moslem organization and Christian theologue Th.
Sumartana.
Hikam said he agreed with Loekman's call for political
opportunities for people of foreign descent.
"Citizenship politics are crucial for our people. The minority
has to be able to enter our political arena," Hikam said. But it
would be wrong to sit back and wait for the government to grant
such opportunities.
"We have to take concrete steps, because this is a problem for
Indonesian people," he said.
He expressed his respect for Indonesians of Chinese descent
who are politically active. He named Kwik Kian Gie, a close
friend of the ousted Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) chief,
Megawati Soekarnoputri; and Arief Budiman who helped initiate the
golput movement which promoted nonvoting. (23/swe)