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After being named a suspect in a corruption case, Anas
Urbaningrum stepped down as the Democratic Party chairman and promised to
tell some untold stories of scandals plaguing his fellow party members. He
surprisingly showed guts in challenging President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono,
the party’s supreme leader.
In a move dubbed as a counterattack on the party’s leaders, Anas is now
trying to implicate Yudhoyono’s son Edhie Baskoro Yudhoyono or “Ibas”, the
crown prince of the Democrats, in the case. Moreover, Anas is believed to
have prepared even more ammunition to shoot down his enemies.
Beyond the corruption case per se, I believe the Democrats’ brouhaha
highlights an important episode in the country’s history.
Apart from shaping public perceptions about the country’s law enforcement,
the wrangling has forced us to ruminate on the basic idea of democracy that
we may have forgotten.
Democracy has become a popular lingo since reformation in 1998. After
ending the oppressive New Order regime, Indonesia established a democratic
government. However, we have never known what sort of democracy we crave.
Let’s begin with a very simple question: Who should be given the legitimacy
to rule?
When this question arises, as Michael Mann argues in his book The Dark Side
of Democracy, people start to kill each other for the sake of legitimate
power.
Instead of asking who should rule the country, I prefer to ask: How
credible are those who are entrusted to manage public resources? Mann
points out the use of conflict, terror and genocide by autocratic regimes,
which misguidedly claim themselves as the legitimate representation of the
people in order to silence dissent.
I believe bloody conflict is no longer the sole problem of the modern
nation-state, especially in the Indonesian context, but corrupt behavior
certainly is.
Our corrupt lawmakers politicize public interest and take advantage of it
for their own sakes. Therefore, corruption can be seen as a deviation, or
in Mann’s terms, the dark side of democracy.
Furthermore, Mann highlights phrases such as “creating a conducive
situation” and “for the sake of national stability” as excuses often used
by oppressive regimes to commit mass killings or cleansing. No wonder
tyrants like Kim Jong-il or Augusto Pinochet were awkwardly admired and
worshipped like national heroes.
Interestingly, most lawmakers who are involved in corruption scandals
exhibit similar patterns, yet in a completely different manner.
We are seeing corrupt politicians claiming themselves to be victims of
dirty political conspiracies. Their involvement in scandals is perceived as
slander, so that they should be prayed for.
In the case of Anas, by declaring political war on his enemies and
highlighting his own victimization, he has shifted the issue from
corruption to political drama. His resignation from the party is not that
special.
Why does democracy have the potential to be this nasty? Charles Taylor, a
prominent political theorist, came up with a concept that says pure
democracy is so important for ensuring that every person is treated
equally.
Democracy provides equal opportunities, so every citizen is able to access
the right to self-determination. Hence, it is beyond mere freedom of
speech, which is only a tiny part of the whole idea of democracy.
Taylor also underlines the importance of recognition to others as a pivotal
part of equality. By using Taylor’s idyllic description of democracy, we
can see how improper our own democracy is.
Opportunist politicians presume that by possessing sovereignty, they are at
the highest level of the social strata. They are unaware they are actually
equal to the citizens they represent.
It goes without saying that sovereignty is not the final destination, but
merely a vehicle to achieve financial advantage. These individuals see
themselves as possessing honor and therefore look down on their people. For
those to have honor in this sense, it is vital that not everyone has it.
This is called the “misrecognition” of others.
Presumably, these people think they can steal people’s money with impunity.
Politics is akin to a story about abusing power, manipulating and stealing
public goods and is part of a market that transacts power. Thus, every
maneuver is calculated through loss-and-benefit logic. Basically, democracy
in our country is rhetoric and is kleptocracy in
disguise.
It is time for us to move on to the idea of dignity, which encompasses the
idea of egalitarianism. This is the time to make a big leap, to start to
seriously overcome the immense corruption scandals that we face. By
punishing these corrupt politicians properly, we will ensure that our law
enforcement is in working order and we will create a civilized society
afterward.
We will make certain that no one can get away from or play with the law.
This might sound a little old-fashioned, but evidently this has not been
achieved yet.
The warning from Anas about his involvement in this case only being only
the beginning should not simply be translated as a threat to his enemies,
but also as an alarm bell for Indonesian society.
It reminds us that the democracy we fought for has not yet been achieved.
That our politicians remain corrupt shows that democracy in Indonesia is
not only elusive but is also under serious threat. ●
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