Where are you going?

I believe that like almost everybody in this country and like most non-Indonesian observers, I was (and I am still) glad when Gus Dur and Megawati were elected and took the helm of Indonesia.

However, I also believe that most of us started to have doubts when the government, with the way the Cabinet was constituted, was clearly leaving no place for a real political opposition conducive to the development of a real democratic opposition. As a result Indonesian people were confused upon hearing people in the government criticize this very same government.

Maybe it would be wise for the National Mandate Party (PAN), the United Development Party (PPP), the Justice Party (PK) and even the Golkar Party (seemingly divided in two camps like PAN) to quit the government to form a real political opposition.

These doubts became stronger when President Abdurrahman Wahid (or Gus Dur) said that he wanted to allow a referendum in Aceh. We all thought that it was to be the type of referendum that the Acehnese wanted it and we started to say that it would be a mistake and that we would prefer to see the development of a federal state in Indonesia. Then Gus Dur said the referendum would only be on the preponderance of Islamic law in the Acehnese province, confusing the issue in and outside Aceh because his decision would satisfy nobody.

And now he says that the use of force could come back into the picture, only few days after his aides were saying that it was not the solution to the Acehnese problem. Well, top Indonesian Military (TNI) thinkers are certainly enjoying this U-turn, and people of the same opinion as Pak Soegih Arto can continue to defend the importance of having a strong military presence in the province. But to do what?

If the military is to solve the Acehnese problem, we know that in the past it did not help at all. I am also wondering why the Indonesian media reports so much about the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). It looks like some groups (certainly close to TNI, who could that be otherwise?) have an interest to hold up the so- called importance of that paramilitary organization to allow it back into the picture. Even undereducated Acehnese watch TV and they will think that GAM is important for them. The government of Indonesia (as any democratic government) is not supposed to even talk to a bloody movement which is not democratic in its essence.

Doubts about Gus Dur's government have now further increased with the rather unexpected decision to close down state schools during Ramadhan and until Jan. 16 without doing preliminary consultations with the people (who are not all Muslims). For all Indonesian Muslim families from the lowest levels of civil society this was not a wise decision, because, for these families, it was good to have their children busy learning at school during Ramadhan instead of having them on the streets doing nothing. We would certainly be glad to hear from both the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Religious Affairs about what they will concretely propose to these Muslim students to improve their religious ethics and morality.

Before deciding such a policy, a study could have been led by prominent sociologists (Muslim and non-Muslim) to analyze the validity and the benefits of such a policy in Indonesia. I see one danger in this decision, it could create segregation among schools on religious grounds and this is needs to be ascertained. That could result in further religious segregation and misunderstandings in civil society, and these are already big enough in some areas such as Maluku, Kalimantan and Irian Jaya.

YVAN MAGAIN

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