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23 years on, RI democracy still fragile
Indonesia bade farewell to the New Order regime more than two decades ago. However, the general mood among those who were involved in the political upheaval is generally somber, with the nation suffering from democratic backsliding.
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An activist of Jaringan Solidaritas Korban untuk Keadilan (Solidarity Network for Victims of Justice) holds a protest near an armored vehicle with a #ReformasiDikorupsi (reform corrupted) signing in front of the Presidential Palace complex in Jakarta on Oct. 24, 2019. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
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ndonesia bade farewell to the New Order regime more than two decades ago, following the resignation of then-president Soeharto, and ushered in new waves of reform that paved the way for a transition to full-fledged democracy.
However, the general mood among those who were involved in the political upheaval – which led to the kidnapping and killing of dozens of students and activists, the widespread gang rape of Chinese-Indonesian women and the deaths of thousands of people during the riots that followed – is generally somber, with the nation widely seen as suffering from democratic backsliding. Fears are mounting that this trend, which has taken place over the past few years, could erase hard-won gains made in the early days of reform.
Usman Hamid, who led the student body of Trisakti University’s School of Law and took part in the student-led protests against the New Order, lamented the fact that the quality of democracy in the country was now “indisputably in decline”.
For Usman, who now leads the Indonesian office of Amnesty International, the world’s largest human rights group, the fight for safeguarding the democratic achievements of the 1998 protests is personal. Four Trisakti students – Elang Mulia Lesmana, Hafidin Royan, Heri Hartanto and Hendriawan Sie – were shot dead during a peaceful rally, triggering a chain of events that eventually led to the downfall of Soeharto.
Weakening of the KPK
