Criticism in A Democracy

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

The Olympic Council of Asia flag is lowered on Sunday (2/9/2018) during the 2018 Asian Games closing ceremony at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Senayan, Jakarta. Despite the heavy rains before the closing ceremony, people thronged the stadium and public viewing locations throughout the capital to watch as Indonesia’s historic hosting of the multisport event came to a close.

The 2018 Asian Games has ended with Indonesia widely praised for its success in organizing the Asiad and in its sports achievements, while the 2018 Asian Para Games awaits in October 2018.

Indonesia received much praise for hosting the Games. Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) president Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah said during his closing speech, “Indonesia, you are great,” while International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach said, “Among Southeast Asian countries, I believe that Indonesia is among the best ones to host the Olympics.” (Kompas, Sept. 3, 2018).

We express our gratitude to all who contributed in ensuring a successful Asian Games: President Joko Widodo with his high optimism, Vice President Jusuf Kalla in his role as Indonesian 2018 Asian Games Organizing Committee (Inasgoc) steering committee chair, Inasgoc steering committee deputy chair Puan Maharani, Inasgoc chair Erick Thohir, Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi, Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono, and all other ministers. We also thank the security personnel, athletes, volunteers and spectators.

They have all made a huge contribution in helping Indonesia reflect “The Energy of Asia”. We believed in the success of its organization, sports achievements and event administration. Nevertheless, we must be honest that many of our medals were won in non-Olympic sports. This means much work must be done ahead of the 2020 Olympics.

If we look at the news published before the Asian Games, many criticisms were lobbed against the government. Some doubted the government’s ability to host the Games from the tight schedule of preparations and perceived a lack of readiness among local athletes. In a democracy, criticism is common.

On Nov. 29, 2015, Kompas published an article titled “OCA Worried Over Indonesia’s Preparedness”, and on March 4, 2017, “55 Years Without Learning: Preparations for 2018 Asian Games Worrying”. These were, admittedly, harsh. However, the response to the constructive criticism was hard work. The criticisms motivated the government to respond to and resolve problems immediately.

We appreciate the government’s response in using the criticisms to make improvements and reach their intended goals. This shows that the government is not allergic to constructive criticism. It was proven later that criticisms could contribute to success.

Criticisms are part of any democracy and are not taboo. Under freedom of speech, criticisms should not be held back or suppressed in ways reminiscent of the New Order era. Criticisms must be responded to with hard work, data and narratives that encourage national pride.

We urge our political elite to maintain their commitment to democracy and to freedom of speech. The two separate public aspirations – to extend the people’s mandate for President Jokowi and to replace him with Prabowo Subianto – are valid in a democratic system. However, the police have a duty to prevent social conflict; the political elite have a responsibility to maintain a calm political situation and a consistent democracy, as well as to prevent democracy from being hijacked by anti-democracy groups.