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Indonesian democracy dictated by money: Survey
Politics and democracy in Indonesia during the past decade have tended to be stagnant, according to a report based on a survey conducted in 30 regencies and municipalities nationwide
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olitics and democracy in Indonesia during the past decade have tended to be stagnant, according to a report based on a survey conducted in 30 regencies and municipalities nationwide.
Even more worrying is that one of the factors considered key to democratic success is money.
'In every democratic process, such as in a legislative election, money is the number one element, although it is not everything,' said Eric Hiarej, one of the report's researchers, on Tuesday.
Eric, who is also a lecturer of international relations at the University of Gadjah Mada's (UGM) School of Social and Political Sciences in Yogyakarta, was speaking at the launch of the report, which was commissioned jointly by UGM and the University of Oslo.
Olle Tornquist, a professor of political sciences from the University of Oslo, said that in the current democratic processes, Indonesian people had tended to coordinate their societal elements by themselves.
That may explain why candidates who want to win an election can no longer depend solely on a popularity, but must come into direct contact with constituents, and must communicate well with civil society organizations to get support from the middle classes.
'Depending only on figures' popularity, such as Prabowo [Gerindra Party chief patron Prabowo Subianto] or Jokowi [Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle presidential candidate Joko Widodo] won't be enough,' said Olle.
'We have seen many cases in which candidates who were active in pro-democracy movements failed in elections because of money politics,' he went on.
The survey involved 592 pro-democracy activists from 30 regencies and municipalities nationwide as respondents.
'We have conducted the survey since 2013 and all elements of the survey will be fully completed by the end of this year,' survey team coordinator Amalinda Savirani said.
Apart from the survey, Amalinda added, her institution would also build a pro-democracy movement that would involve societal elements in 30 regencies and municipalities. 'The partnership to develop this democratic movement will be conducted until 2017,' Amalinda said. (ebf)
