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A time for healing
Now that the elections are over, both camps should bear equal responsibility for reuniting the polarized populace.
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A pedestrian passes by flower boards sent by individuals or groups to show appreciation for the work of the General Elections Commission (KPU) at the KPU office in Central Jakarta on Sunday. The commission has begun counting the votes and is expected to announce the results to the public on May 22. (The Jakarta Post/Seto Wardhana)
N
ow that the elections are over, both camps should bear equal responsibility for reuniting the polarized populace. During the seven-month-long campaign we appeared to have forsaken our values and exhibited no qualms about spreading hoaxes and inciting hatred. Brethren became enemies; Indonesia a nation torn.
One camp extolled virtues of their candidate’s leadership, despite the unaddressed current account deficit and our lagging far behind in matters of major substance — including the very quality of our people. The other camp stood in stark denial of the number of steps being taken to redress historical inequalities, highlighting instead the indebtedness incurred and the improper sequence of placing roads ahead of people.
Now is the time for us to leave such acrimony behind — no point in debating right and wrong, let us instead focus on initiating the healing process. The wounding during the protracted campaign is apparent, and magnanimity displayed, inter alia, by the President inviting leaders of the other camp to nominate candidates with merit for executive positions, would be a step in the right direction.
However, more deeply seated wounding has been with us for so long that it has become normal. The extractive institutions bequeathed by centuries of feudalism and colonialism have proven successful in reinventing themselves, driving us further apart.
Thus, the incoming administration needs to acknowledge wounds inflicted during previous regimes and enlist the elite across all walks of life in beginning a sustained process of “social healing”, wherein the dynamic tension between truth, justice, peace and mercy principles hold central place. Injustice that is still being perpetuated should necessarily top the list.
This is the corruption and collusion, aided and abetted by politicians. More than that, this is the dominant paradigm that has generated values and norms that condone Lamborghinis and Rolls-Royces parading amid persistent poverty without any pangs of conscience. It should not come as a surprise that radicalism and terrorism have found fertile breeding ground in the wounding by glaring inequality and ostentatious display.
The marginalization of indigenous peoples is another deep-seated wounding reinforced by successive administrations. Through not recognizing their belief systems and not respecting their land rights, we have relegated them to second-class citizenship.
