What kind of leader does RI need?

By Santo Koesoebjono

WASSENAAR, The Netherlands (JP): Since May 1998, the country has been embarking on the era of political reformasi (reform). What the people have witnessed so far, however, is a continuing power struggle among the political elite. No basic reform has been made, let alone any improvement to people's living conditions.

The members of the elite are fighting for the highest position and for the support of diverse factions with the objective of continuing or maintaining the existing political system. It is difficult to imagine that the different leaders and political parties will be willing to spend time and be able to propose a concrete development plan for the coming five years aimed at improving people's living conditions.

Since the fall of Soeharto, several imperious and self- proclaiming candidates have been jostling for the presidential position. They have proclaimed themselves to be the most capable to govern and lead the country into a new era. These would-be leaders are living in a glasshouse, observing the country and its population from a distance, elevated in the capital city and surrounded by real or pseudoadvisors, free riders and sycophants. Each of them has his own hidden agenda and career plan.

These so-called leaders become the center point of everything and are very important, pretentious and almost sacred. Their opinion and views are perceived as a proclamation and are compelling. People should listen to them and follow blindly. These leaders speak in slogans and oracles.

For them, the man on the street and everything else happening in the country are a very remote reality. Recently, a presidential candidate stated to businessmen in the Netherlands that should he be elected president, he would change the economy of Indonesia so that it would be based on the profit principle and free trade. When asked what he meant by that, the candidate replied that this concept still had to be worked out.

What do these candidate leaders know about the people's problems? The leaders belong to the elite class. Indeed, many articles have been written and analyses given in the plethora of seminars and forums, journals and magazines.

But are these leaders willing to read and internalize the results and recommendations of the scientific forums and the news presented in the media?

Are they open to new ideas and views about what is going on in society and among ordinary people? How should news be presented to affect the way of thinking of these leaders and the other members of the elite? Are demonstrations the only means to get the message across?

Moreover, do these leaders have an organization that does not only give the needed votes in the election, but that also is capable in carrying out the programs when the party will be in power? The party/organization has indeed managed to mobilize people for a one-time action, such as an election.

However, is that organization strong enough to motivate and mobilize their supporters and the people for as long as the party is in power? To achieve that, a strong and disciplined organization is essential since development is a long and complex social process.

Two types of leadership can be drawn up. First are leaders whose origin is from the center: that is, they mostly come from the same elite clan, passed the same type of education, have studied in prestigious universities in the country or abroad in the United States, United Kingdom or Australia, met each other in the same offices and restaurants and have a similar career plan.

Frequently, the children of the elite marry among themselves, creating a social inbreeding and network, and form a security for the maintenance of the clan's economic and social position. The booming economy in the past three decades has precipitated an explosive conspicuous consumption among the elite and therefore, helped to strengthen their status.

The second type of leadership originates from the people and comes from outside the center of politics. This leader is not part of the elite in the government center. This man or woman is more informed of what is going on among the people at the grassroots level and in the countryside. The drawback is that the governing body, or the elite, will not accept such a leader since he is not from the inner circle.

This leader is perceived as a danger, a virus in the maintenance and reproduction of the rigid elite clan. In the Indonesian context, the presidents, candidates for president and top government officials all come from the elite class. In contrast, leaders like Wim Kok, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, the late Nyerere, the former president of Tanzania, and John Major, the former prime minister of the United Kingdom, come from the common class. John Major's father was a variety artist.

To preserve the current comfortable state in Indonesia, a leader from the elite class tends to manipulate the people as can be seen in the recent events in East Timor and other events diverting everyone's attention from the basic suffering of common people. So the common man will again become a victim and an easy target of manipulation and indoctrination by the selected elite who are just providing lip service on democracy, transparency and other catchy slogans, such as the "dire fate of our people".

The persistence of this situation will worsen the disparity between the center, namely the western-oriented capital city and urban areas with its modern economy on one hand, and the periphery, namely urban fringes and rural areas that are economically less developed and socially disrupted.

One does not need to be highly educated or cultivated to understand that such a gap between the center and the periphery is morally and ethically undesirable and unacceptable. This gap will become the source of social unrest and turmoil that can grow more severely than the May 1998 events and can endanger the unity of the state.

As the economist Tipton says "it needs to be kept in mind that development means change, that change is uncomfortable, and that change threatens existing interests." Therefore, the elite does not support change or development which does not serve their own interests.

Furthermore, their own interests can be narrowly defined and are focused on themselves personally, their families, their friends, other members of their own class, members of their religious, ethnic or regional community, and only finally on an abstract notion of the general good or the overall development of the economy. Do the elite of the center, namely of Jakarta and the urban areas, really want to change their attitude and behavior for the sake of the periphery?

Unfortunately, a sense of accountability, responsibility and integrity is difficult to find among the present generation in Indonesian society, a former director of the Bank of Indonesia said.

In accordance to that, the Senior Minister and former Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew said in an interview with a Dutch newspaper, NRC-Handelsblad on Sept. 4, 1999: "The problem facing the future society is how to maintain values and norms irrespective of the type of government. These norms and values are manifested in terms of integrity toward the family, respect between friends, feeling of faithfulness and trust and self- reliance."

To achieve a better condition, Indonesia needs a good leader who originates from the people, is accountable, responsible and has a strong sense of integrity.

The elite should change their attitude and behavior and should show more consideration toward people outside their class. They should be more aware about the suffering of people and translate this awareness into action, showing more accountability of their actions toward those for whom these policies are developed.

This would be a good start for a government that seriously wants to improve the participation and living conditions of people.

The would-be leaders should step down from their seat and join the common people to formulate and carry out the development program and should they not, as has happened in the past, they should drop all plans and ideas from the center.

The writer is an economist and demographer.