Dwi Atmanta, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
April 30 was a Sunday but it was not a day of relaxation for the people of Tuban -- and the rest of the nation might feel the same.
Tension gripped Tuban, situated on the northern coast of East Java, the day after a mob burned down the regional elections commission office and property owned by Regent Haeny Relawati, who should have been celebrating her successful reelection bid.
Police announced the arsonists were upset by Haeny's victory over their preferred candidates, Noor Nahar Hussein and his running mate Go Tjong Ping, in an election they claimed was unfair.
This, unfortunately, was just one of many similar incidents. There have been scores of cases where people have quickly resorted to violence over some dispute or difference of opinion since Indonesia threw off the authoritarian Soeharto regime in May 1998.
The Tuban arson attacks, the violent rally a few days later to protest the government's plan to revise the 2003 Labor Law, the attack on a magazine's office last month and the anti-Freeport violence in Papua in March that left four police officers and an Air Force soldier dead. All these incidents and more have left people wondering what is wrong with the country.
As if to add insult to injury, the executive and legislative powers have demonstrated their disrespect for democracy with policies that neglect differences and threaten to curtail personal freedom.
All of this speaks volumes of the nation's apparent failure to help democracy flourish. Some people have begun to express impatience with democracy, which they say should be sacrificed for economic development. ""Democracy is not a goal, it's just a means,"" they say.
Only eight years ago, Indonesia celebrated the return of democracy after over four decades (political scientists say democracy was best practiced in Indonesia in the period between 1950-1955). And after the 1999 elections, hailed as the first democratic polls since 1955, the country was internationally acclaimed as the fourth largest democracy in the world.
Expectations were high that democracy would lead the country to prosperity, or at least bring change, as manifested in the huge turnout in each of the last two elections. However, the fact that voters deserted Golkar Party in the 1999 elections, but then punished the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle five years later clearly shows these expectations were not met and little change for the better took place.
There was some political restructuring, with the Constitution amended to ensure there was a working system of checks and balances and to strip the once mighty military off its privileges.
But after eight years of practicing democracy, we have not made a break with the past. Democracy is accepted as no more than a symbol, as it was used under former president Soeharto, who promoted Demokrasi Pancasila, which in practice was a systematic way to stifle opposition.
Democracy as now practiced in Indonesia is only used to justify the tyranny of the majority, as seen in the decision making process in political institutions. Democracy is valued only by the number of supporters, as happened when politicians in the House of Representatives voted on whether to support the government's decision to raise fuel prices last year, or when the government refused to revoke a regulation on the construction of places or worship deemed discriminatory against minority groups. As critics of ancient democracy put it, democracy is mob rule.
The riot in Tuban is certainly a violation of the values that exist in democratic countries, where the losing party accepts defeat and congratulates the winner. But perhaps it also reflects people's loss of faith in democracy, which they may feel has failed to improve their lives.
One may say that democracy is a process that cannot be completed within 10 years, or perhaps even in a generation. Democracy in the United States, which many countries across the globe look to as a model, was developed and fought for through many difficult times, including a civil war.
Indonesia does not need a war to establish democracy. It simply requires patience and confidence, both among the leaders and the people in the grass roots.
In its place of origin, Athens, democracy vanished after the people lost patience with the system. And it took democracy two millennium to be revived. Surely we don't want history to repeat itself.
