General News

Empowering people more than its leaders

Scholars, practitioners and ordinary citizens have all attempted to define the meaning of democracy. But one definition that stands out most is democracy as a process of continuous dialogue through public reasoning on matters of public interest (Amaryta Sen).

That is why it is natural to have distinctive views, especially in a maturing democracy like ours. After all, it is an encouraging sign that we are making headway toward an open society.

Indonesiaโs democracy is yet to be tested. But we can be proud that some areas in our reform efforts have improved while other areas have remained largely unresolved.

So, as citizens, can we be hopeful that the next presidential election, assuming it adheres to the most ethical and best practices, can ameliorate our shortcomings?

For some, our road to democracy is a phenomenon that looks good only on paper. While it is easy to come to such a conclusion, our democracy โ albeit slow โ is changing the minds of our people.

Reforms are evolving processes. Certainly, changes cannot simply be realized overnight. So, to base Indonesiaโs flaws as a bleak projection to the future is a fundamentally false premise. Let me elaborate.

First, reported human rights violations and the failure to give back to people cannot be faulted as โundemocraticโ. If that is the case, can we say that the United States is โundemocraticโ for inhumanely treating prisoners in Guantanamo Bay? Certainly not.

Without democracy, a resource-rich region, like Papua or Aceh, would not have enjoyed special autonomous status with the largest state budget allocation. What is lacking is not merely how much one should give back, but how both central and local governments make use of the democratic process to beef up local human capacities in order to manage their own resources.

Second, vote buying is a classic problem that is losing popularity. In a more open Indonesia, such practice is both ineffective and senseless. Candidates may splash their money for votes but that is not a guarantee. Last year, a field study in Bali, Manado and Medan, revealed that people tended to choose their representatives based on their robustness as a figure, not so much on their political affiliations, and certainly less so on their financial contributions. The billionaire presidential candidate Aburizal Bakrie, of the Golkar Party, may have the means to buy every voter in the country a swanky motorcycle (or even more). But of course, that would be foolish.

That is because our decision making process is conditioned to encompass cultural โ and, to some extent religious โ obligations. Take Bali as an example. On election day, the people of Bali march to polling stations dressed in traditional black-and-white checkered attire.

For the Balinese, elections have a greater social context than simply choosing their future leaders.

A study may show that women vote based on looks, but that theory is largely irrelevant these days. Jakartaโs Governor Joko Widodo (Jokowi) certainly does not have the look of a rising celebrity, but he is certainly winning the hearts of many, including housewives. That is also true in Surabaya and in other regions. In Indonesia, wealth and good looks are no longer determining factors (that is if they ever were), but more so on how well they can convince us that they are what people think they are. Voters are now drawn by merit.

Third, we know that Indonesia has a lot to do to catch up. Numerous indicators may suggest Indonesiaโs poor scorecard. But to compare Indonesiaโs democracy to Costa Rica, Botswana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Timor Leste and many others is fundamentally unsound. Indonesia is an archipelago comprised of more than 14,000 islands with 300 hundred ethnic groups and languages (not just dialects). Not to mention the 240 million inhabitants scattered around its vast oceans with diverse beliefs and interests. It would be a miracle to manage them all at once.

Within the global context, a more reliable comparison is by judging Indonesiaโs democracy to its immediate neighbors. Among the 10 members of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Indonesia is the only nation considered โfreeโ and practices freedom of the press. The rest are either quasi-democracies or authoritarian regimes. And it has only been 15 years since reformasi (reform) whereas the west has had the luxury of a โdemocratic fiestaโ for over 250 years. They, too, had their ups and downs.

Lastly, it is important to underline the differences between procedural and substantive democracy. A procedural democracy, like elections, is a gateway to a more open society. The rest depends on the substantive elements. The UN Global Commissions Report on Elections, Democracy and Security rightly pointed out the need to uphold elections with integrity, which addresses these flaws in our general elections. The report has been an integral part of the General Election Commission since last year.

Elections are only part of the democratic process. Political candidates cannot be held accountable to change the nature of our democracy. Even President Obama had been criticized for not delivering his campaign platforms. Talk about change we can believe in.

Democracy is about people. By educating, informing and actively engaging citizens, we are empowering our people to make the right decisions. So the success of the next form of our democracy depends on all of us. Not just elections; and certainly not its hopeful candidates.

The writer teaches at Binus International University, Jakarta

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Country: Indonesia
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When: 07/8/2013