Victory for the status quo

Victory for the status quo

The deliberations in the House of Representatives on the three
political bills passed into law on Thursday followed a familiar
but disturbing pattern. The two dominant factions in the House --
Golkar and the Armed Forces (ABRI) -- flexed their muscles to
impose their wills, not only on the two smaller, helpless
factions in the House -- the United Development Party (PPP) and
the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) -- but also on the entire
nation. Except for a brief moment of resistance put up by the
PPP, the two smaller factions meekly played along with Golkar and
ABRI. So familiar was the picture that one could not help feel a
sense of dj vu harking back to the political processes during
32 years of Soeharto's repressive regime.

All four of the House factions endorsed the bills, which, once
signed by President B.J. Habibie, will become the legal bases
around which the general election in June will be organized. The
factions patted themselves on the back for a job well done, and
for completing the "democratic" process by the government-set
deadline.

The wheeling and dealing among the four factions took place
with little regard to what was occurring outside of the House.
The four factions were simply fighting for their own survival,
using their remaining privileges to ensure that they emerge from
the reform movement with as much remaining power as possible.
Thus, ABRI is allotted 38 seats in the House and Golkar can still
effectively count on the support of the civil servants.

The deliberations ignored outside demands that ABRI leave off
politicking, that the bureaucracy remain politically neutral and
that Golkar relinquish its power in order to make way for real
reform. Unfortunately, it is too much to expect that Golkar and
ABRI will make sacrifices as long as they still call the shots in
the House. These two groups cannot be expected to put any other
interests, even those of the nation, over their own.

This is the sad state of our democracy. As in the Soeharto
era, the emphasis of the House deliberations was on formal
procedures, not substance. Soeharto was elected seven times
through a formal constitutional process, but who can say that he
was ever truly democratically elected? Golkar won six landslide
election victories, but no one can claim that the election
process ever lived up to the true spirit of democracy. ABRI
managed to hold onto its sociopolitical role through what it
called a "national consensus" which actually occurred between the
privileged elite of the time.

The reform movement launched last year sought to change all
this and make the political process in this country democratic in
the true sense and spirit of the word. The movement succeeded in
forcing Soeharto out of power in May, and his successor, Habibie,
initially showed promising signs of embracing true democracy,
including his pledge to organize an honest and fair general
election.

So much of this country's hope has been placed on this
upcoming election. It has been widely touted as the defining
moment for this country's future. How the election is held will
determine whether or not the country's confidence will return,
and with this return of confidence the renewed growth of the
economy. A truly democratically elected administration will have
legitimacy and credibility, two qualities which the current
government sorely lacks.

Given the high expectations people inside and outside this
country have placed on the June general election, one is left to
wonder how Golkar and ABRI can stomach playing the same games
they played under Soeharto in order to subvert the ideals of the
reform movement simply to cling to power as long as possible.

The way the political laws were enacted, as well as their
substance, will make it difficult for the government to sell them
to the public, the dozens of political parties hoping to contest
the June election, and especially to the students who launched
the reform movement. Judging by the process used to pass these
political bills, the general election, if it still goes ahead as
planned, will be anything but honest and fair.