Whither reform?
The demise of Abdurrahman Wahid's presidency has raised the specter of a return to power of the forces of the repressive New Order regime which could have an adverse impact on the reform movement. When he was elected to the post in October 1999, Gus Dur, as the former president is popularly called, had impeccable credentials that led many to sincerely believe he was the right person to lead the nation in the campaign to build a civil society.
In contrast, while Megawati Soekarnoputri is not an antireformist, many feel uneasy at her reliance on the New Order forces, Golkar and the Indonesian Military (TNI) in particular, in her ascent to power, including in removing Gus Dur last week.
Gus Dur and his supporters believe that Megawati has dispensed too many IOUs, particularly to the New Order elements, and by doing so can hardly be expected to implement the political, legal and economic reforms that this country badly needs to get back on its feet.
It remains to be seen how much of this prophecy will come true, or whether this is simply a prediction from a bitter, unseated president. Now that Megawati has been elected through a democratic process, we should give her the chance to prove that she has the vision and courage to implement the necessary reforms.
On the other hand, we should not overstate Gus Dur's contribution to the reform campaign either. The near-blind former president made his mark early in his presidency, particularly when he replaced almost the entire leadership of the TNI. But beyond this, he did very little in advancing the reform agenda for a civil society in the 21 months he was in power.
In fact, he spent the last 12 months of his presidency fending off an impeachment attempt, at the expense of the national reform agenda. He backtracked on his reform commitments at times such as when he allowed the TNI to return to Aceh to quell a rebellion, having earlier launched peace talks with the rebels, in his attempt to appease the military and win its political support.
Gus Dur even violated the sacred principle of democracy, the very cause he initially fought for, when he issued an edict to dissolve the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR). As imperfect as the MPR may be, and as undesirable as some of its members perhaps are, it is still a democratically elected institution and should thus be respected. In any campaign for democratic reform, the means can never justify the end, unless one is advocating a revolution.
Since the real reform agenda was effectively dropped by Gus Dur when he became embroiled in the power struggle these past 12 months, it became irrelevant whether he remained in charge or not. All we can say is that with his departure, the non- governmental organizations (NGOs) that championed democracy no longer have a sympathetic ear, for, before coming to power, Gus Dur was one of their prominent leaders.
Gus Dur's departure could, in the end, be a blessing in disguise because the NGOs can now fight for their cause and agenda far more effectively than before by keeping a safe distance from those in power. By their own definition, NGOs must fight their battles from outside the government and never from inside it. With Gus Dur out of the presidential palace, they can now afford to be more vocal in voicing their aspirations.
But they must never fight from outside the political system. If the system is flawed, then the first agenda for the reformist camp should be changing the system itself, that is by fighting to amend or even replace the Constitution for one that is more amenable to the promotion of democracy and a civil society.
In conclusion, with or without Gus Dur in charge, Indonesia is nowhere near the civil society that many people in this nation aspired to when they joined in the reform movement in 1998. There is still a long way to go yet. Rather than engaging in a fruitless debate about where the movement is heading now that Gus Dur is out of the loop, it would be far better if we all renewed our commitment to fight even harder to achieve that civil society.