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Indonesia’s quest for full-fledged democracy
Mira Permatasari , THE JAKARTA POST , BANDUNG | Thu, 02/26/2009 10:19 AM | Opinion
The recent deadly protest of the supporters of the establishment of a Tapanuli Province at the provincial legislative council claimed the life of council speaker Abdul Aziz.
We are very proud to see democracy is blooming since the fall of Soeharto in May 1998.
But we also have to realize that violence is rising in this country. With legislative and presidential elections only a matter of a few months ahead, we should ask ourselves: Is our nation ready for democracy?
Is this democracy we live in now the one we actually want? Is this the democracy we desire? Is this the real democracy we wish to preserve? Perhaps most of us will answer: No! The democracy I learned about at my university, or heard and saw on TV is not like this. But people, who think they fully understand this ideology, say this is the sacrifice we have to pay. But is that true?
For more than 10 years we have lived like this, and maybe more than 10,000 people were killed for this. Is this the democracy that we wished for?
In the process of achieving full-fledged democracy, we always remind ourselves of the importance of freedom of expression. The stakeholders of this country said that “We are free to have our own ideas!”, “We are free to be different!”, “We are free to protest!” and “We are free to criticize”.
But, do we really know anything about a real sense of freedom? Do we fully understand how to protest and criticize within the ethics of a democracy? People in this country are too obsessed with being democrats. People in this country are too mesmerized by having total freedom in their lives.
Democracy is shouted everywhere by university students, laborers, political activists or even schoolchildren. They demonstrate their opinions, their claims, and they protest to the government. By demonstrating our thoughts, feelings and opinion to the public (and particularly to the government), it will synchronize the process of democratic development itself. The process of democracy needs the active participation of the public. And it is happening here.
But in reality, what we see in the media shows us that the way they express these thoughts is like a form of anarchism. People, who pride themselves on being university students, often damage public facilities, punch police officers, or even burn public facilities, and causes traffic jams at their demonstrations.
So, is this really the democracy we want? Who thinks so? The death of Aziz indicates that we are following the wrong democratic path. Democracy is an alibi for people who take no responsibility for their actions. Their actions are unplanned and uncontrolled. Is this the democracy we fight for?
These realities make us think hard about who is going to take responsibility and educate people and teach them about the ethics of democracy itself. Besides the government, the education system should play an important role in raising people’s awareness of real democracy.
Our young generation has to understand the ethics of democracy. Freedom as the vital element of democracy has to be characterized as both loosely and tightly bound together. Loosely may be defined in the sense that people are given the freedom of expression in thought, opinion and action.
And tightly may be defined as the freedom that should be respected by people who exercise that freedom. So the freedom we have must abide by the law and respect others’ interests.
The writer is a student of International Relations at Parahyangan Catholic University, Bandung.
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Mira Permatasari (not verified) — Sun, 03/22/2009 - 5:40pm
Dear Mr. Morse..
I'm so surprised that u take a response of my opinion. Thank you for your concern.
Anyway, yes.. If I could make a confession to everyone in this world. I do really stressful of all the anarchism that happened in my country right now. But it doesn't mean that I don't like democracy. I want democracy for sure. But I do really concern of people who said that they want democracy but they always put democracy into their alibi to do anarchism. It's because of they misunderstood of democracy itself. They do the damage and even the chaos in my country. And I don't want to let it happen.
I know that your country has experienced democracy system many many years. The civil war, and all the process to achieve the democracy itself had sacrificed many many people. But as u said so, it took very long time.. and it really happens in here.. in Indonesia. The problem that we have is the people of this country do not really know the democracy itself for sure. They just know about the freedom of everything without respecting other interests. They just exaggerating everything to be more more complex or even become worst.
Leon Morse (not verified), Washington, DC — Sat, 02/28/2009 - 2:26am
I can sense frustration in Ms. Mira's writing about the development of democracy in Indonesia, but I would urge readers to bear with the evolution of democracy in Indonesia. On the one hand, I can see that the author is not advocating for a return to strongman leadership, rather that people respect the law and not think that democracy means mayhem can be protected. On the other other hand, I would caution against thinking that there is a halfway solution until such time that Indonesians are "ready for democracy," as she asks.
I lived in Jakarta for a few years, during the waning days of Gus Dur and first years of Megawati. Think of how far Indonesia has come since 2001, let alone 1998! In my opinion, Indonesia is clearly the freest and most democratic country within ASEAN, and this will serve to propel the country to make gains--economic, scientific, and others--at the expense of Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia if they do not reform their systems of government.
It may not be comforting to hear that the process takes time (and what constitutes effective democracy is always changing in definition, which is what makes it such an effective form of governance) and that sacrifices must be made and people will be hurt or even killed in the process. As the US democracy has evolved, as we tried to determine what was proper conduct for a democracy, we fought a civil war that cost more than 600,000 lives. It took 80 years to put into law that slavery is inconsistent with democracy; even after that we continued to kill and ignore the rights of Indians. In the 1940s we rounded up Japanese Americans and put them in prison camps. Just as worse as what we have done inside our country, we have impeded democratic developments worldwide when we perceived the outcome a threat, from Latin America to Southeast Asia to Palestine. Today there is debate about gay marriage, and state-by-state, such as in California, referenda impose the will of the majority upon a minority; imposing majority views and will upon a minority is not what democracy is about, yet such behavior persists.
Despite all my shame or the depressing history or criticism I may heap upon my own country, I am fiercely proud of it and its democratic accomplishments, and Indonesians should be fiercely proud of Indonesia and its democratic accomplishments. More are certain to come by sticking to the current path, and keeping both eyes open to improving it.
Was the US ready for democracy in the 18th century? Is Indonesia ready now? I do not think that anything really prepares a people for democracy. Governments around the world use excuses such as "the media here are not responsible enough to handle freedom of the press, so we will repress them until they are." However, I am certain that keeping people under some form of dictatorship makes the situation worse. In my example, applicable to many freedoms, I would say that repressing media means never allowing them to become responsible, because responsible journalism hinges upon the ability to report freely. These are convenient excuses for politicians to maintain their grip on power at the expense of citizens.
I would agree that education is necessary about what democracy is and is not. This will come with experience. There is a well-known expression "my freedom to swing my fist through the air ends where your nose begins." Indeed, democratic freedoms do not protect violence.
Further, a strong, independent judiciary that serves the law and not the executive branch will help to protect democracy, both from legislative and executive excesses and private citizens. It may take a couple of generations to develop such a judiciary.
Asking the questions Ms. Mira is asking--"can we do better?"--is vital to democracy. People will disagree, sometimes angrily, on them. In the upcoming elections, I guarantee that things will happen that will make Indonesians cringe, and maybe even cry. Common people and politicians alike may not act like model citizens who embrace democracy. But please remember that asking the question--and answering--"can we do better?" is done best under a democracy.
Agatha Tambunan (not verified), Bandung — Thu, 02/26/2009 - 9:47pm
I think International Relations UNPAR born great writers..hohoho
bravo kak mira!
:)