Most Indonesians concerned about national unity

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sun, 09/14/2008 10:01 AM  |  Headlines

National unity remains a cause for concern here in Indonesia, despite 63 years of existence as a nation state, a survey finds.

The special poll, conducted by Roy Morgan Research in the top 16 provinces in Indonesia in July, revealed that 66 percent of 2,031 respondents saw "the breaking up of Indonesia's unity" as something they feared might happen, while 27 percent went even further to say that this was what they feared most.

Besides national disintegration, 55 percent of respondents feared "another country provoking tension between different groups in Indonesia", 52 percent were afraid of "breakdown of law and order or social harmony in Indonesia", and 51 percent were anxious that there could be "terrorist attacks".

Fear of "breakup of Indonesia's unity" is shared by all groups. There is no difference between age, gender, and location, on the common fear that the "breakup of Indonesia's unity" could happen.

As a huge archipelago it is no surprise that Indonesians fear this. The country's location, differences in race, culture, religion and disparities in wealth can be seen to weaken Indonesia against assault from foreign powers, as well as from within the country, Roy Morgan International said.

"Recent events have shown how fragile Indonesia's unity is, with the secession of East Timor, and the problems in Aceh. Although these separatist movements were from within the country, support and pressure from foreign countries gave them additional impetus," the pollster said.

Many say national unity has been at stake since regional autonomy was introduced in 2000. Seven new provinces and over 100 new regencies have been established in the last eight years, some of them based on ethnic identities.

Political analyst J. Kristiadi of the Centre of Strategic and International Studies said the fear of national disintegration was the result of past government policies which reduced national unity down to uniformity.

"Such a fear should not arise as Indonesian people have survived attempts to politicize sectarian issues. Instead, national integration is a work in progress under a new paradigm," Kristiadi said.

Meddling by other countries in Indonesia's internal affairs that could provoke tension between different groups, was also high on the list of fears.

When asked "which countries are likely to create difficulties for Indonesia", 79 percent of the respondents stated the United States, followed by close neighbor Malaysia (42 percent), Israel (30 percent) and the neighbor down under - Australia (29 percent).

"Looking at the results of both questions, Indonesians' opinions that the U.S. was likely to create difficulties is understandable, taking into account the country's ability and history of attacking other countries seen to be a security threat (Iraq and Afghanistan)," the pollster said.

Historically Indonesia has had more tensions with Australia, but only 29 percent feel that Australia is likely to create difficulties for Indonesia.

Kristiadi agreed that the results of the survey very much made sense and revealed Indonesia's critical perception of the U.S.

"There has been an enlightment process in Indonesian society, which enable people to spot unfairness practiced by the U.S. People here agree that the U.S. cannot dictate to Indonesia," Kristiadi said.

The same survey was conducted in Australia in August 2008. The country most seen to "likely create difficulty for Australia" was Indonesia (53 percent), followed by Iran (33 percent), China (32 percent) and North Korea (31 percent).

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