Letter: The Obama inauguration

For all its failings, America has shown, by the election, for the first time, of an African-American as President, inclusiveness and a willingness to reach out to all ethnic groups in American society.

This is likely to stand America in good stead as it seeks to marshal the support of all Americans in dealing effectively with the fallout from the ongoing financial crisis.

If all ethnic groups in America feel that they have some meaningful say in the political process and an equal opportunity to achieve high political office, then it must be more likely they will be prepared to make the sacrifices needed to overcome the country’s problems.

This inauguration of Barack Obama as America’s 44th President should rightly then provoke some soul-searching in Indonesia as to when is it likely someone from a minority ethnic group will become President of Indonesia.

Is it realistic to expect that, in the foreseeable future, we will see a Papuan, a Batak, a Chinese or non-muslims as President of Indonesia? Self-evidently, the answer would seem to be a resounding and embarrassing “no”.

The relatively noninclusive nature of Indonesian politics and the effective exclusion of non-Javanese from the highest political office surely makes it more difficult for the Indonesian government to obtain the wholehearted support which it really needs from all ethnic groups represented in Indonesian society if it is to make meaningful progress in dealing with the country’s myriad economic, social and political problems.

After all, why should Indonesia’s comparatively politically marginalized, non-Javanese ethnic groups feel much compulsion to support the central government’s policies and programs when they know that they can never realistically aspire to the country’s highest political office?

The encouragement of a more ethnically-inclusive political process in Indonesia would be a good start in building greater support for the central government’s policies and programs. If America can do it then why cannot Indonesia?

WILLIAM A. SULLIVAN
Jakarta