ad info




Asiaweek
 home
 intelligence
 web features
 magazine archive
 technology
 newsmap
 customer service
 subscribe
 TIMEASIA.COM
 CNN.COM
  east asia
  southeast asia
  south asia
  central asia
  australasia
 BUSINESS
 SPORTS
 SHOWBIZ
 ASIA WEATHER
 ASIA TRAVEL


Web-only Exclusives
November 30, 2000

From Our Correspondent: Hirohito and the War
A conversation with biographer Herbert Bix

From Our Correspondent: A Rough Road Ahead
Bad news for the Philippines - and some others

From Our Correspondent: Making Enemies
Indonesia needs friends. So why is it picking fights?

Asiaweek Time Asia Now Asiaweek story

Opinion:

CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM

The opposition's duty is to oppose with a purpose
By MOCHTAR BUCHORI, a member of the PDI and an adviser to the party's leader, Megawati Sukarnoputri


Indonesia The opposition gears up

Reform Of the electoral and constitutional kind

IT IS SAID THAT for 32 years opposition was taboo in Indonesia. Actually, the Indonesian political system operated without opposition for nearly 40 years, ever since the late president Sukarno abandoned liberal democracy and introduced his own style of "guided democracy" in 1959. Now that much greater freedom has dawned in Indonesian politics, the question is: Can the present generation of Indonesian politicians play the game of opposition? Can they generate a mature form of democracy to replace the view that opposition is alien to the concept of Pancasila democracy?

On the whole, the picture looks good. There are political personalities who through their acts of opposition have already contributed to the development of the political process. One such example is the recent discourse between Prof. Baharudin Lopa, the secretary-general of the National Commission on Human Rights, and Maj.-Gen. Andi Ghalib, the attorney-general. Ghalib announced that a probe into former president Suharto's assets was merely a clarification procedure and not an investigation. Therefore, he stated, issuing Suharto with a summons was unnecessary. Instead, the attorney-general - accompanied by Minister Hartarto Sastrosunarto - planned to simply visit Suharto at his residence for a discussion about his wealth.

This announcement made the public furious. In a televised interview, Prof. Lopa stated in unambiguous terms that the attorney-general's decision was a big blunder. On the basis of the public suspicion concerning Suharto's wealth, Ghalib was obliged to conduct an investigation, Lopa insisted. And since Suharto is a suspect, the attorney-general must issue him with a summons, not ask for an audience. Lopa criticized Ghalib for not having the courage to summon Suharto. In response, the minister of justice, Prof. Muladi, immediately announced that a clarification was merely the first legal instrument, to be followed up by an investigation if one is deemed necessary. If the probe reaches the investigative stage, then the former president would certainly be summoned, Muladi assured the public.

Yet not many Indonesian politicians know how to play the opposition game constructively. Many are political players who just disagree with everything the government says or does, seemingly for the sake of disagreeing. They give no impression that their opposition is the result of a coherent political viewpoint. To be fair, it must be pointed out that the government's reaction to opposition has often been unreasonably defensive. It is only when the public becomes agitated about an issue that the government will retract or revise its position. When changes are made, the altered proposal is in general more reasonable than the original.

The central concern of the public at the moment is that among the 90-plus political parties, there seems to be no meaningful discussion aimed at building consensus. Individual parties appear preoccupied with their own parochial concerns, not seeming to realize that a common platform is needed if an effective opposition is to take place. Each grouping wants to bring down the Habibie administration, yet none is articulating its reasons why. Meanwhile, the few parties on the government side have been busy defending every iota of Habibie's policy, without stopping to ask themselves: "Where are all these erratic decisions going to lead the country?"

This is a dangerous situation. Indonesia cannot afford the current political stalemate to last too long. The worsening economic outlook means the social situation is becoming more unstable by the day. If no solution can be found, a second round of mass social unrest - with the threat of more looting, burning and rapes - cannot be ruled out. No one wants a replay of the May riots. The political question is thus how to break the stalemate. What the opposition parties must do is agree on what or who their target is. Is it Habibie's present cabinet? Or the entire system of governance that Habibie inherited from the Suharto regime? If the opposition can agree on a shared aim, it will then become possible to formulate a common, effective strategy to end this dangerous deadlock.

It is a pity that only the students seem to share this viewpoint. Through the few discussions I have had with these young people, it is very clear to me that they have agreed on what they want to achieve: To end the practices and mentality of the Suharto regime. One student said to me, "Our stake is our bodies and our lives." This is a very courageous and admirable stance, to be sure. But student groups are not political parties. How long can they sustain this posture? To what extent can they influence the agenda of the government?

In the end, it should be borne in mind that the task of a good opposition is not only to bring down a bad government, but also to replace it with a better one. Opposition for the sake of opposition is too expensive a game for Indonesia to play these days.


This edition's table of contents | Asiaweek home

AsiaNow


   LATEST HEADLINES:

WASHINGTON
U.S. secretary of state says China should be 'tolerant'

MANILA
Philippine government denies Estrada's claim to presidency

ALLAHABAD
Faith, madness, magic mix at sacred Hindu festival

COLOMBO
Land mine explosion kills 11 Sri Lankan soldiers

TOKYO
Japan claims StarLink found in U.S. corn sample

BANGKOK
Thai party announces first coalition partner



TIME:

COVER: President Joseph Estrada gives in to the chanting crowds on the streets of Manila and agrees to make room for his Vice President

THAILAND: Twin teenage warriors turn themselves in to Bangkok officials

CHINA: Despite official vilification, hip Chinese dig Lamaist culture

PHOTO ESSAY: Estrada Calls Snap Election

WEB-ONLY INTERVIEW: Jimmy Lai on feeling lucky -- and why he's committed to the island state



ASIAWEEK:

COVER: The DoCoMo generation - Japan's leading mobile phone company goes global

Bandwidth Boom: Racing to wire - how underseas cable systems may yet fall short

TAIWAN: Party intrigues add to Chen Shui-bian's woes

JAPAN: Japan's ruling party crushes a rebel ì at a cost

SINGAPORE: Singaporeans need to have more babies. But success breeds selfishness


Launch CNN's Desktop Ticker and get the latest news, delivered right on your desktop!

Today on CNN
 Search

Back to the top   © 2000 Asiaweek. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.

ÿ