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Jokowi’s democracy wager
That a strong democracy needs a strong foundation goes without saying, but banking solely on a robust economy tips the balance away from human rights and justice.
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Protesters wear a mask resembling the late human rights champion Munir Said Thalib on Sept. 7, 2017, during the weekly "Kamisan" silent protest in front of Merdeka Palace in Jakarta. (The Jakarta Post/Ibrahim Irsyad)
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n a recent article in Journal of Democracy, political scientists Saiful Mujani and R. William Liddle make the case that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is making a long-term wager on the fate of Indonesia’s democracy.
The President, considered by many to be a technocratic populist, is putting democracy on the back burner so he can focus on building the economy. The rationale is that a strong democracy needs a strong foundation, which is nothing other than a robust economy.
If this analysis is correct, then we are obliged to urge the President to change his philosophy because the stakes are far too high.
We have seen in recent years how some key democratic institutions are being coopted by oligarchic interests that have rendered ineffective any attempts to countervail the political elite. It is no surprise, then, that civic space has only shrunk under his administration, with pro-democracy and human rights activists facing the kind of intimidation that had happened only under an authoritarian regime. Today, they are facing intimidation both offline and online.
The latest example is the bombing attack against the family of human rights lawyer Veronica Koman, now in exile in Australia after she was named as a suspect for speaking up against alleged human rights abuses targeting Papuans. Footage of the attack seen by The Jakarta Post on Monday shows two assailants on a motorcycle hurling a plastic bag towards Veronica’s home in Jakarta.
A member of Veronica's household staff can be seen in front of the house as the explosion occurs, but no one was injured in the attack.
What happened to Veronica and her family brings to mind a dark chapter in the nation’s history that we should have left behind. It is unnerving that 23 years after reformasi, human rights defenders are still living under the constant threat of terror.
President Jokowi should realize that attack against Veronica is not an isolated incident, and that it was only possible because he has opted to look the other way every time a human rights defender was subjected to physical threats, cyberharassment, criminal prosecution and costly litigation for speaking out against alleged gross injustices.
It is the logical consequence of the President’s inaction in the face of ongoing intimidation against human rights defenders, as well as his failure to resolve past human rights abuse cases.
From the fatal poisoning of Munir Said Thalib aboard national flag carrier Garuda to the bombing attack against Veronica, human rights defenders are seen as fair game by the anti-democratic forces that seek to derail Indonesia from its democratic trajectory.
Scholars may differ on how much Jokowi can do to preserve the nation’s hard-won freedoms, given that he is still widely seen as a political outsider within an oligarchic system. That said, what he says and does as the President still matters.
The attack targeting Veronica's family is, without a doubt, a new low for Indonesia. It is high time for the President to stop gambling with the country’s democracy.
