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EDITORIAL: Violent rhetoric's slippery slope
Many have pointed out many similarities between Jokowi and Suharto, to the point where one observer called the former “Little Suharto.”
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President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo departs for Natuna, Riau Islands, to witness military exercises conducted by the Army's Strategic Reserves Command’s (Kostrad) Quick Reaction Strike Force (PPRC) on May 19.
(Courtesy of the Presidential Office/File)
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fter months of political tension, which at times ended with violence, many could understand when President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo finally lost his cool and threatened to crack down on hard-line organizations that continue to disrupt the country’s politics with street protests. These rallies have been a regular feature in the past months.
How could he not be? The street protests and their attendant political pressure had not only failed the reelection bid of Jokowi’s ally, Basuki “Ahok” Thahaja Purnama, but in the end, managed to put pressure on the judiciary to jail the ethnic Chinese politician for allegations of blasphemy.
Jokowi finally lost his patience and during a meeting with top editors of prominent media outlets last week, he lashed out and threatened to “clobber” these intolerant groups, the same language used by the country’s former authoritarian president Suharto in 1989, who then sensed that opposition had mounted against him.
“If they want to replace me in an unconstitutional way, I’ll clobber them, whether they are politicians or generals,” Suharto said back then. It was a slippery slope soon after. Suharto kept his words and the actions he took in the early 1990s right until he stepped down in 1998 —from shutting down prominent media outlets to kidnapping pro-democracy activists — were the hallmarks of an authoritarian regime.
Many have pointed out many similarities between Jokowi and Suharto, to the point where one observer called the former “Little Suharto.” Both champion development as the signature of their administration, with Jokowi focusing on building infrastructure to accelerate progress. Both also harbored a suspicion toward the democratic process, which a particularly impatient Jokowi one time described as “going too far.”
The only difference is that Jokowi was democratically elected into the country’s highest office, while Suharto was swept into power following a military coup. Jokowi won a popular mandate in a democratic country and he should be perfectly aware that violent rhetoric has no place in a democracy.
Democracy requires civil debates to allow every spectrum of opinion be heard and taken into consideration. This is a long and at times tiring process, but it guarantees the best possible outcomes for the society involved. Democracy requires persuasion and Jokowi should use every rhetorical arsenal to elevate the country’s political discourse to a civilized one, despite the harsh and violent rhetoric used by his opponents — one of the most visible signs seen in the street rallies leading up to the Jakarta gubernatorial election was one that read “Hang Ahok.”
Jokowi only needs to learn from the United States election that even a mature democracy can descend into chaos when politicians start using violent rhetorics during a campaign. The US today is in bad shape as a result of violent rhetorics used by Trump and his surrogates with their “Lock Her Up” chants. Violence — even rhetorical — only begets violence.
