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)