Is Pancasila still Relevant?

 

On 1 June 1958, Indonesia's first President, Soekarno, delivered a speech saying that Pancasila i.e. Five Principles, is the ideology of the the Republic, since then the said date has been celebrated as the birth date of Pancasila.

Pancasila consists of the following idealistic principles :  1) Belief in One God;  2) Civilized Humanity; 3)  Indonesian Unity;  4) Representative Democracy;   5) Social Justice.

Before liberal democracy came to Indonesia on May 1998, the ruling governments of President Soekarno (1945-1966) and President Soeharto (1966-1998), have force the adoption and implementation of Pancasila in the sense that every people and organizations must adopt Pancasila as a single ideology, otherwise they would face legal consequences.

The introduction of liberal democracy after Soeharto stepped down from 32 years of authoritarian rule on May 1998 is like the opening of a Pandora Box that enabled all sorts of social disease to come to Indonesia.

Every people and organizations in Indonesia are free to adopt all kinds of ideologies they want, whether they are moderate, or extreme, fanatic, religious, tribal etc (except Communism).
As a result, the belief of the majority of the country's population i.e the Religion of Islam, became the ideology of many socio-political organizations.

The adoption of religious ideology by extreme and fanatic people has caused social conflicts in provinces of Maluku, and Central Sulawesi, also a series of suicide bombings of innocent local and foreigners, in Jakarta and Bali.

Moreover, indecisiveness and failure to enforce laws against repetitive violent actions by fanatic organizations like the FPI against Christians and Ahmadiyah, has made those organizations more stronger, and weaken the government.

In spite of the above mentioned facts, I believe that Pancasila is still relevant for a multi-racial, tribal, religion, country like Indonesia, provided that the Rule of Law is upheld, therefore the concepts of Supremacy of Law, Presumption of Innocence, and Equality before the Law is maintained.


Symbol :  Courtesy of Wikipedia.

Happy Birthday Pancasila

During a meeting of the Committee for the Preparation of Independence of Indonesia (BPUPKI).on 1 June 1945, the leader of independence movement Soekarno delivered a speech titled " The Birth of Pancasila ".

Soekarno proposed the state of Indonesia to adopt Pancasila as a political philosophy. Pancasila consists of two Sanskrit words i.e Panca: five, Sila: Principles, comprising of :
1)  Belief in One God
2)  A Just and Civilized Humanity
3)  Indonesian Unity
4)  Democracy
5)  Social Justice

During the authoritarian governments of former President Soekarno (1945-1966), and former President Soeharto (1966-1988) Pancasila was strictly adopted as a doctrine. Social, Political, Economical activities must solely be based on Pancasila.

After Soeharto stepped down on 21 May 1998, Indonesia became a liberal democratic country, and freedom of speech and human rights became very important factors in the country.

As a result, the government and law enforcement agencies tend to be very careful, sometimes hesitate in enforcing laws and regulations. This together with Poverty, Injustice and Corruption have made some people lost their faith on Pancasila and choose other ideology as basis for their activities. Some political parties and non government organizations choose religion as their sole ideology so as to get people's support and votes. Inter-faith conflicts broke in many regions.

The worst thing was that many of them became extremely fanatic that they were willing kill many people by exploding themselves in order to get what they want.

Considering that the five principles of Pancasila are suitable for Indonesia and not contradictory to religion, politics, cultures, etc. I hope that from now on, each and every one of us in Indonesia, would accept Pancasila as the country's main ideology.

For which purpose the government and its law enforcement agencies should enforce the laws and regulations based on the concepts of supremacy of law, presumption of innocence, equality before the law.

Source:
Wikipedia.

Is Soeharto really better than SBY?

A recent public opinion survey conducted by Indo Barometer shows that the late former President Soeharto is more popular than President Susilo Bambang Yudoyono (SBY).

The survey, conducted from 24 April until 4 May 2011 on 1,200 respondents in 33 provinces of Indonesia, shows that 36.5% choose Soeharto as the most favorite President of the country, 20.9 % choose SBY, 9.8% choose the late President Soekarno, 9.8% choose former President Megawati, 4.4% choose former President Habibie and 4.3% choose the late former President Abdurrachman Wahid. 

Beside that, the survey also show that 40.9% of the respondents prefer the condition during Soeharto's New Order regime, compared to only 22.8% who preferred the so called post 21 May 1998 Reformasi Era.

In reaction to that survey result, Presidential Palace spokesman questioned the reliability of the respondents, who are they, what are the parameters of the survey.

As a person who has experienced living during the Soeharto era, I felt that the above survey result is not accurate because it was only conducted on 1,200 respondents in 33 provinces, no details about the respondents like their ages, do they know that Soeharto was a ruthless authoritarian ruler, et cetera.

In my opinion, the survey should be carried out on at least 100 respondent per province (total 3,300), they should at least be 17 years old when Soeharto stepped down 13 years ago, their education level should be mentioned, they should be explained that Soeharto was a ruthless authoritarian ruler, while President SBY is a liberal democratic ruler.

The Trisakti Tragedy - 12 May 1998

Thirteen years ago, 12 May 1998, four students of the Trisakti University, Jakarta, were shot to death while they were demonstrating against the 32-years old authoritarian government of President Soeharto.

Until this moment the death of those students i.e Elang Mulia Lesmana, Heri Hertanto, Hafidin Royan, dan Hendriawan Sie is still a mystery, no thorough investigation has made on the shootings. 

However, the facts at the scene of Crime show that they were shot in vital parts of their bodies i.e. either in the head, or neck or chest. Which means that the shooting was done Snipers i.e. specially skilled persons who were well trained and armed to shoot from long distance.

Considering that civilians who own firearms in Indonesia are very strictly limited, I believe that only certain people has Sniper Skill in Indonesia. But this does not necessarily mean that the shooting was done by Indonesians, there is also a possibility that it was done by foreigners hired by some people here.

Considering that witnesses to the Trisakti Tragedy are getting old, some have even died, I hope that there will be an open and thorough investigation to reveal this tragedy in the near future. Otherwise it would always be a mystery.

Is Freedom a Blessing or a Curse ?

The Constitution of 1945 stipulated that the freedom of every Indonesian citizens is protected by the laws.

However, in 53 years after its independence on 17 August 1945, Indonesia was ruled by authoritarian regimes that used their powers merely for the interests of their family, friends and groups. Freedom was very limited, oppositions was crushed, the media was heavily censored. Any violation would be severely punished either legitimately or illegitimately, among others by shutting down the publisher/broadcaster and detaining the persons in charge.

In spite of the lack of freedom, between 1968 and 1998, Indonesians enjoyed economical, social, political and security conditions which were relatively stable.. The economy grew steadily, educations were affordable, no very serious religious, racial and political conflicts among the people was reported.

But unfortunately, the economy was heavily depended on foreign debts, investments, and exports of natural oil, gas, timbers, so when the international financial crisis broke in 1997, Indonesia was hit very badly, and forced to accept the emergency program directed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), including the liberalization of social, economic and political lives.

This fact and nationwide public protests against the 32-years authoritarian regime of President Suharto had forced him to step down from 32 years power on 21 May 1998, and asked Vice President Habibie to take over.

And liberal democracy came to Indonesia and the social, political, economical and security situation became unstable.

One year later, the first free general election was held and won by the anti-Suharto Indonesian Democratic Party in Struggle led by the daughter of former President Soekarno namely Megawati. Unfortunately, the People's Consultative Council (MPR) did not elected her as president, instead they elected the leader of the largest Islamic organization namely Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur) on October 1999.

Gus Dur was a very liberal and highly respected human rights. He abolished racialist laws against minorities including Chinese citizens, recognized extreme-fanatic religious movements, etc. Muslim-Non Muslim bloody conflicts broke in the Island of Maluku and Sulawesi.

Gus Dur's policies were too controversial for other politicians, including his plan to disband the pro-Suharto Golkar Party, so on July 2001, the MPR ousted him and Megawati became President. Many violence broke, among others the suicide  bombing in Bali in 2002

 In 2004, General Susilo Bambang Yudoyono (SBY) won the first freely-held presidential election with a land slide majority of more than 60%. But his Democrat Party only minority seats in the House of Representatives so he must form coalition government with the Golkar Party several Moslem political parties. This weak political support has made SBY always hesitate in taking actions especially against violent organizations using religion as mask like the FPI that often carried out illegal sweepings and curfews on public places.

More suicide bombings exploded in Bali (2005) and Jakarta (2009), many inter-religion conflicts broke in some parts of the country.

In 2009, more than 60% of the people, including me, re-elected SBY once again, but considering that his Democrat Party on got around 25% of the seats in the House of Representatives, therefore SBY must once again rely on the support of his coalition partners i.e. the Golkar Party and Islamic based parties.

This is ironic, because our Constitution adopted the Presidential government-system, whereby the President hold supreme executive power, therefore should not be depended on the House of Representatives.

Today, almost two years I cast my votes for SBY and his Democrat Party, he is still like before. As a result, the majority of our people are still living in poverty, unemployment is growing, many injustices exist, reluctance to fight corruption, only few people can afford the very expensive higher education.
Moreover, violence organizations are seemingly becoming more stronger.

Considering the above, I felt that SBY and his Democrat party should stick to the promises that they have made during the last general election and presidential election i.e. govern the country based on the concept of pluralism, supremacy of law, equality before the law merely for the best interest of the Indonesian people and not just for certain individuals, groups and political parties. That way, people would not regret casting their votes for you in the elections. And the freedom that we have since 1998 would be a blessing, and not a curse, for us.

Well, that's my personal opinion about freedom, I shall be very glad to know about your opinion.

Reformasi

On 21 May 1998, devastating economic crisis has forced President Soeharto to step down from power.

After that, Indonesia has been experiencing the process of transformation from an authoritarian rule to a liberal democracy. This process is popularly known in Bahasa Indonesia as " Reformasi ".

And today, 12 years after " Reformasi ", I wonder whether the whole process has been beneficial for the Indonesian people, or merely for a bunch of politicians.

In this regards, I quoted a relevant article in Kompas (below).

12 Years after Soeharto, Indonesians Fear for 'Reformasi'

Jumat, 21 Mei 2010 | 12:01 WIB

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Twelve years after the dawning of Indonesia’s ’Reformasi’ movement with the resignation of military strongman Soeharto, there are fears the country of 240 million people is on a slipperly slope backwards. No one disputes how far Indonesia has come: the economy is booming and last year’s peaceful elections brought political stability by returning Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to the presidency for a second five-year term.

The massive street protests, bloody anti-Chinese riots  and economic ruin that marked the last days of  Soeharto's "New Order" regime are in the past, and Indonesia  is demanding a greater say in world affairs. But on the 12th anniversary of Suharto’s resignation Friday, all is not well with ’Reformasi’, the sweeping popular movement for democratic change that energised reform across the vast archipelago for more than a decade.

Some analysts fear the tide may be turning back in favour of Suharto-style cronyism and a political and business elite that has never, they say, relinquished power.

“There is not much difference between Soeharto’s time and now. It’s just that Soeharto’s cronies have been replaced by new cronies,” economist Martin Panggabean said.

Analysts express concern about persistent, widespread corruption, a lack of government transparency, a culture of impunity for human rights abuses and the increasing use of draconian libel laws to muzzle critics.

Such fears came to a head earlier this month with the shock resignation of finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, an independent economist who frequently clashed with reactionary forces within the ruling coalition.

Indrawati won international accolades for keeping Southeast Asia’s biggest economy growing throughout the global downturn while battling to clean up the graft-riddled tax and customs offices.

But her lonely campaign received little more than rhetorical support from Yudhoyono, and eventually her position became untenable in the face of constant attacks from the Golkar party, Soeharto’s largely unreformed political vehicle. Speaking to business leaders earlier this week, the outgoing minister compared the current situation to the crony-dictatorship of Soeharto, who died in hospital in January, 2008.

“We have learnt from the 30-year regime of president Soeharto, where relationships between personal and public interests were so mixed-up,” she said.  “We all knew — what occurred during the New Order era was like a disease. But at that time it was done behind closed doors. Now it’s more sophisticated and the skills of power enable the decision-making process to be co-opted.”

In what some observers interpreted as a parting shot at the ruling elite before she starts her new job as a World Bank director next month, she said the current system worked like a “cartel” or a “same-sex marriage”. “You can see for yourselves, government officials with business backgrounds, even though they say they have put aside all their businesses, everyone knows that their siblings, their children, who knows who else from their families, are still running the firms,” she said.

The comments were reported as a stab at Golkar party chief Aburizal Bakrie, seen as the architect of the campaign to remove Indrawati after she tried to bring his vast business empire under the rule of law.

Within days of her resignation, and after secret talks with Yudhoyono, Bakrie had been appointed to lead a new “secretariat” tasked with overseeing the ruling coalition.

Analysts said a key test for ’Reformasi’ will be whether an investigation launched by Indrawati into 210 million dollars in allegedly unpaid taxes by Bakrie-linked mining companies is brought to trial or swept under the carpet.

The Darkest Month of May

The month of May in the year 1998 is one of the darkest month in the history of the Republic of Indonesia.

It started on 4 May 1998 when thousands of students in Bandung, Yogjakarta and Medan protested against the increase of fuel price by the newly re-elected government of President Soeharto, which quickly developed into nationwide protest against the 32 years old authoritarian regime.

On 12 May, four students of the University of Trisakti, Jakarta were shot to death by snipers causing the students' take over of the building of the House of Representative (DPR), followed by violence which targeted the businesses of Chinese minority ethnics, many of their shops and houses were destroyed and their females raped.

The most horrible thing was that at that time the security forces do not seemed to be available in Jakarta, therefore causing a big tragedy and many people died/injured and their shops/houses destroyed and looted by the rioters.

According to widespread rumors, the tragedy was masterminded by someone who had a powerful position in the Army ad closely related to Soeharto, therefore trying everything possible to defend and preserve his power.

On 21 May, Soeharto stepped down from his throne and hand over power to Vice President B.J Habibie.

Unfortunately, until this present moment, the tragedy is still a mystery. Those who were supposed to be responsible were still untouched by the laws. Even those who were officially supposed to be responsible for security at that time remain untouched by the law, and are now holding public offices.

Considering the above, I believe that if Indonesia wants to have a better condition, today and in the future, investigation of this tragedy should be re-opened and those responsible should be revealed and tried in the Court of Law. If the government do not want them punished, they can always be given them pardon.

Related media reports  :
- The Last days of President Soeharto (The Jakarta Globe)
- Indonesia Must Never Forget May Tragedy (The Jakarta Globe)
- Mei Pecas Ndahe (Ndoro kakung)

11 March 1966

11 March, is a very important date for Indonesia, because on this date forty years ago the late President Soekarno handed over power to Minister of the Army Leutnant General Soeharto.

According to the official version during the Soeharto era that ended on 20 May 1998, Soekarno hand over power by signing a letter dated 11 March 1966 prepared by Soeharto's staff, giving the following instructions  to Soeharto :

1)  To act for and on behalf of President Soekarno in taking whatever necessary to ensure the security, peace and stability of the government and the revolution, and to ensure the safety and authority of Soekarno and his doctrine;
2)  To Coordinate implementation of this instruction with the other Commanders in the Armed Forces;
3)  To report everything related to the above mentioned authorities and responsibilities;

From that day, the above mentioned power transition letter was popularly names as Surat Perintah Sebelas Maret a.k.a SUPER SEMAR.

Considering that according to the 1945 Constitution, such transition of power can only be conducted by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), in 1967, a plenary session of a Temporary MPR (MPRS) was held to appoint Soeharto as Acting President, and then Permanent President on 11 March 1968.
For details, please click here and here.

The very strange thing was that that the original letter has seemingly vanished into the thin air, especially after Soeharto and the three Army Brigadier Generals who brought the letter to Soekarno in Bogor Palace at that time i.e. Muhammad Yusuf, Amir Mahmud and Basoeki Rahmat have all passed away.

Nevertheless, for the sake of Indonesia's historical truthness I hope that there will be an open investigation on what really happened to the original letter.

Image :  Courtesy of Detik.

The Aquittal of Time Magazine

“Justice has prevailed!” That’s what I thought when I read the news last Thursday, 16 April, about our Supreme Court's verdict which accepted the Judicial Review requested by attorneys of Time Magazine, clearing all Defamation charges brought by the family of late former President Soeharto.

According to The Jakarta Post, the Supreme Court overturned its own verdict passed on August 2007, which required Time to pay US$ 106 Million Compensation for Damage to the Soeharto family. As the grounds for the verdict, Supreme Court Justice Hatta Ali said that Time "did not violate the law or breach ethical standards”.

The legal case started when Time (Asia) published in its 14 May 1999 edition an article tiled: “ Soeharto Inc., How Indonesia’s Longtime Boss Built a Family Fortune ”, which reported that Soeharto collected US$ 15 billion during 32 years in power, and transferred US$ 9 Billion from a bank in Swiss to a bank in Austria. Annoyed, Soeharto, through his team of attorneys led by Juan Felix Tampubolon, filed a Defamation Lawsuit demanding US$ 17.18 Billion compensation plus legal expenses. At the Court of First Instance and Court of Appeal Soeharto lose, but won the Cassation at the Supreme Court, due to which fact, Time has requested for the above Judicial Review.

Viva News reported according to their attorney Mohammad Assegaf, the Soeharto family has accepted the Supreme Court’s verdict.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Indonesian Alliance of Journalists (AJI) Nezar Patria said that AJI is grateful that the Supreme Court has adopted the Press Law and the Journalistic in handling this case.

I hope that the above verdict of the Supreme Court would be followed as Jurisprudence by other court judges in handling similar cases related to the news media.

Tommy wins again!

The youngest son of the late former President Soeharto, Hutomo Mandala Putra a.k.a Tommy, has once again beaten the Indonesian government’s efforts to recover money that the state lost from the national car project during the last years of Soeharto’s reign.

According to Kompas, last Wednesday the District Court of Central Jakarta has rejected a lawsuit filed by the government against Tommy on charges of selling the assets of his “Timor “national car project to his own company. The judges said that the Prosecutors have failed to provide sufficient evidence to back out said lawsuit.
The Jakarta Post reported that the case started in 1999 when the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (a.k.a BPPN) took over the assets of Tommy’s national car company, PT. Timor Putra Nasional, as collateral for outstanding debt of Rp 4 trillion to the state. Later on, IBRA sold the said assets to Tommy’s other company PT. Vista Bella for only Rp. 445 billion, thus giving Tommy a Rp. 4 trillion gain from the sale.

This court’s verdict shows once again that our Attorney General Office seems to be weak in prosecuting Tommy. The irony is that Tommy has escaped prison for one year without being punished. Instead of getting more prison term, he got reduction.