Indonesia confronts its future

S P SETH

Indonesia will soon have a new president following presidential elections in that country. In a bitterly contested and controversial election, Joko Widodo (popularly known as Jokowi), the presidential candidate of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), finally prevailed. And it was a convincing win by a margin of over 6 percentage points, more than 8 million votes. His rival, Prabowo Subianto, a former general and son-in-law of the discredited dictator Suharto, who was overthrown in a popular uprising in 1998, didn’t take his defeat kindly. And he contested it in the Constitutional Court, but lost. Jokowi will now take over the presidency in late-October.

It is as well that an unsavoury and ruthless character like Subianto didn’t win. During the time he was a general in the army under his father-in-law’s rule, Parabowo Subianto was accused of kidnapping and killings to help perpetuate Suharto’s dictatorship when it was in a terminal stage. Having unsuccessfully tried to contest presidency before, he was hoping to make it this time. It was felt that the Indonesian people were hankering for a strong man in the image of his father-in-law, Suharto, who had ruled for over 30 years, because the country’s democracy had become flabby and discredited with large-scale corruption and all round venality. And he projected himself as the strong man that the country needed and hopefully was looking for. In other words, he was the right man at the right time. But it didn’t work.

Prabowo was flushed with money, his election financed by his billionaire brother. He is a rich man in his own right. But he under-estimated his rival, Jokowi, who came out as too ordinary to be taken seriously. And he also reportedly had the support of elements in the army at local and higher levels. The bias for Prabowo in the army, despite denials, must have been quite serious as to warrant the sacking of the army chief, General Budiman, a day before the election result was announced. Subianto tried to muster and engineer wide protests to put pressure on the Constitutional Court to invalidate Jokowo’s victory but it all proved futile. That a discredited general, accused of gross violation of human rights, could be a serious presidential candidate, securing as much as 46 per cent of the votes, indicates that Indonesia’s democracy still needs careful nurturing. It also shows that important segments of the army still hanker for the ‘good old Suharto days’.

Widodo’s election will mark a sharp break, hopefully for the better, in Indonesia’s polity. So far all the post-Suharto presidents have had old political and army association with that past. The outgoing, but popularly elected, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, was a Suharto-era general. Widodo will be the first Indonesia president with no connection to the sordid Suharto-era. He is self-made, starting almost from scratch to become a successful small businessman. He started his political career as a small town mayor of Solo where, by all accounts, he did a creditable job and without any taint of corruption and venality, a highly unusual trait in a politician. His next stop was the governorship of Jakarta, a much more challenging job. He apparently wasn’t as successful in the country’s capital but, at the same time, there were no scandals about him.

Indonesia very badly needs an honest and accessible man as president with a common man image. And Jokowi has these attributes. It is was this persona that got Jokowi the presidential nomination of Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), led by Megawati Sukarnoputri, the daughter of the country’s leading freedom fighter and its first president. She would much rather have wanted the presidency for herself but didn’t seem likely to win. Jakowi was a rising political star and his sponsorship seemed the only way for the Sukarno dynasty to make a political comeback of sorts.

But that is where the problems might arise. First, Jakowi is not part of their patronage network. He is an outsider picked up for his popular appeal. The question then arises: will he or will he not do their bidding? Second, Megawati’s daughter, Puan Maharani, is said to be politically ambitious, and they (PDI-P leadership) won’t be comfortable about Jokowi becoming too settled in his presidential role. Third, Jokowi’s PDI-P doesn’t command majority in the national parliament. That would make his task of governing effectively and purposefully quite onerous. The consequent wheeling and dealing among the same set of corrupt politicians might rub off the shine from Jokowi’s fresh and untainted image.

Therefore, unless Jokowi can establish himself, early on, as his own man to deliver on people’s expectations that are quite high, he might not only lose popular appeal but, more importantly, it will further damage Indonesia’s democratic polity and system. And with people like Probowo and his cronies waiting to pounce on a perceived image of self-seeking, corrupt and grubby politicians, one cannot rule out an even greater nostalgia for the distorted (but even more corrupt) past of strong arm rule of the Suharto era.

One redeeming feature, though, is the unbounded optimism of Jokowi. In his victory speech, he sought to enthuse people with a new sense of confidence and said, “This presidential election has provoked fresh optimism in the Indonesian nation. An independent soul and sense of political responsibility blossoms in…the new generation. Their enthusiasm—which had sunk into torpor—has now returned.” He added, “It is now our responsibility to prove to ourselves, to other nations and especially to our children and our grandchildren, that politics is full of fun; politics has some wisdom. Politics is freedom.” 

At the present time, though, Indonesia seems unsure of its future. Precisely at such a time a relatively fresh face, untainted by the past and with a strong sense of optimism, might become the circuit breaker. By tapping and instilling popular enthusiasm, Jokowo might be able to break through the political strait jacket that is tying down Indonesia. 

Note: This article first appeared in the Daily Times

Contact: sushilpseth@yahoo.com.au