Political Oligarchies Strengthening Grips

KOMPAS/WAWAN H PRABOWO

Kompas chief editor Budiman Tanuredjo (center) poses for a group photograph with (left to right) Muhammadiyah executive board chairman Haedar Nashir, Nahdlatul Ulama Executive Board (PBNU) chairman Marsudi Syuhud, Office of the Presidential Staff Deputy IV Eko Sulistyo, House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker Bambang Soesatyo, People\'s Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Zulkifli Hasan and Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman Agus Rahardjo at the Kompas editorial office in Jakarta on Monday (13/8/2018), following the book launch and discussion for “Membaca Indonesia #MenyatukanKepingan” (Reading Indonesia #UnitingthePieces).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Indonesia’s political system tends to highly favor oligarchies in political parties. The fate of the nation is determined only by a handful of political elites. A breakthrough is necessary to reorganize the system and enable Indonesia to transform itself into a modernized country.

“Reorganization is needed to release ourselves from the traps of oligarchical politics,” said Haedar Nashir, chairman of the nation’s second-largest Muslim mass organization, Muhammadiyah, at Menara Kompas, Jakarta, on Monday (13/8/2018). Haedar was speaking at a discussion and book launch for “Membaca Indonesia #MenyatukanKepingan” (Reading Indonesia #UnitingThePieces) by Kompas’ Politics and Law Desk.

People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) speaker Zulkifli Hasan, House of Representatives speaker Bambang Soesatyo, Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chair Agus Rahardjo, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) executive Marsudi Syuhud and the Presidential Chief of Staff’s Deputy IV Eko Sulistyo also spoke at the event.

Constitutional Court (MK) justice Saldi Isra, Election Organization Ethics Council (DKPP) member Ida Budhiati, National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) member Choirul Anam, National Police Commission (Kompolnas) member Poengky Indarti and House secretary-general Indra Iskandar attended the event.

Haedar said Indonesia had failed to manage political disruptions in the Reform Era since 1998. Democracy is currently too liberal, while society remains stuck in a patronage mindset.

Related to this, Haedar emphasized the importance of Indonesia rediscovering its orientation. He said the nation had yet to figure out its end goals. Consequently, the nation has stagnated. The fundamental values of its founding fathers have been largely forgotten. Meanwhile, political elites can always sacrifice logic and quality to grab power.

“The question is not whether or not we will still exist 100 years after our independence. Rather, it is what we will look like in 2045. We must not merely exist. We should be a modernized nation by then,” Haedar said.

Among the reasons of political oligarchies’ increasing strength is the presidential threshold, which he said was too high. Law No. 7/2017 on general elections stipulates that only political parties or coalition of political parties with at least 20 percent of House seats can nominate presidents and vice presidents. This requirement strengthens political parties’ hegemony. A presidential threshold remained necessary, Haedar said, but it should be low enough to enable more presidential and VP candidates to crop up. “This will also prevent political oligarchies,” Haedar said.

Agus Rahardjo said the current political system should be reorganized as it was too costly and often produced politicians that lacked competence. On the other hand, bureaucracy is growing increasingly complicated.

Marsudi said Indonesia’s founding fathers designed the nation to be a balanced one. Such balances are found between religion and secularism and between socialism and capitalism. Even when Indonesia is pro-market, the rights of the poor must still be respected.

However, Marsudi continued, such concepts were not fully understood or implemented by subsequent generations. “Do not blame millennials for jumping on the bandwagon of changing the system of government. They were not introduced to [state ideology] Pancasila early enough,” he said.

Solution

Marsudi said all stakeholders should sit and work together to find solutions to this problem. “The underlying principle of nation-building is mutual trust: earning trust from others and, in return, trusting others to build a strong nation,” he said.

Zulkifli Hasan said the first crucial step would be to strengthen national unity. Once unity is achieved, sovereignty must be reinforced. It is only then that social justice can be implemented.

Bambang Soesatyo said the politicization of religion had undermined social bonds. The strengthening of nationalistic visions is therefore necessary to overcome this problem. Legal products not in line with Pancasila must be evaluated.

Eko Sulistyo said President Joko Widodo’s development programs were designed on the principle of unifying the nation. “A major example is through infrastructure development,” he said.

(EDN/BOW/NTA)