Indonesia's Democracy Is Consolidated, Taiwan's Democracy Is Calicified

Indonesia's Democracy Is Consolidated, Taiwan's Democracy Is Calicified
United Daily News editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
July 29, 2014

Summary: After nearly two weeks of counting ballots, the presidential election results for Indonesia, the fourth most populous nation in the world, have finally been announced. Joko "Jokowi" Widodo of the reformist Indonesian Democratic Party – Struggle (PDI-P), emerged victorious over Prabowo Subianto of the conservative Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) by a 6% margin, or 8 million votes. Eight million votes in many small countries would be a huge margin. But because Indonesia has 180 million voters, that number is relatively small. Little wonder Prabowo refused to concede defeat, and asked the Constitutional Court to overturn the election results.

Full Text Below:

After nearly two weeks of counting ballots, the presidential election results for Indonesia, the fourth most populous nation in the world, have finally been announced. Joko "Jokowi" Widodo of the reformist Indonesian Democratic Party – Struggle (PDI-P), emerged victorious over Prabowo Subianto of the conservative Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) by a 6% margin, or 8 million votes. Eight million votes in many small countries would be a huge margin. But because Indonesia has 180 million voters, that number is relatively small. Little wonder Prabowo refused to concede defeat, and asked the Constitutional Court to overturn the election results.

Jokowi is the son of a carpenter. Prabowo is military strongman Suharto's son in law. This election has been characterized as a battle between a commoner and an aristocrat. But closer examination reveals that the leader of Jokowo's PDI-P is former military strongman Sukarno's daughter Megawati. Therefore the presidential election should instead be characterized as a battle between the successors of two strongmen. Indonesia's military strongman dictatorship came to an end 16 years ago. But politics has yet to emerge from the shadow of these strongmen.

Over the past 16 years, Indonesia has held a string of democratic elections. But past presidents Habibie, Wahid, Megawati, and Yudhoyono, were all strongmen. Habibie was Vice President during the Suharto era. Megawati was the daughter of Sukarno. And Prabowo, who lost the recent election, is Suharto's son in law. No wonder some say that Indonesia is a democratic political experiment conducted under the shadow of strongmen. The specters of strongmen haunt Indonesia's democracy.

During this 16 year experiment in democracy, ruling vs. opposition party power struggles have bedeviled the country. Government efficiency has not improved. Instead it has deteriorated. The situation has enabled the political opposition to maliciously obstruct President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's attempts to govern. In addition, under Indonesian plutocracy, politics has not become any cleaner. It has become dirtier. Wahid was impeached for corruption and forced to step down. This led to further disappointment in democracy. During the recent election many Indonesians donned Suharto T-shirts that read, "When I was in power, life was better." This nostalgia for authoritarian ruler reflects Indonesians' disappointment and confusion about democracy.

This nostalgia has revealed Indonesians' longing for strongman politics, and their disgust with the chaos of democracy. Prabowo attempted to exploit his status as Suharto's son in law to win the election. Prabowo incited economic nationalism. He attacked large companies that took advantage of foreign market openings to grab Indonesian natural resources. He accused past rulers of selling state owned enterprises to foreign governments on the cheap. He adopted the demeanor of a strongman and promised to end political corruption, restore law and order, and pursue social justice. Prabowo packaged himself well. People almost forgot that he was one of the masterminds behind the 1998 special forces kidnapping of student dissenters. During the recent Indonesian presidential election nearly 30 million young people were first time voters. Most of them have no memory of past dictatorships. They are also the main victims of market openings and a widening wealth gap. Paradoxically these first time voters have become staunch supporters of Prabowo.

By contrast, consider Jokowi. During the election campaign he mostly touted his achievements as a local government head. For example, he successfully transformed the crime-ridden city of Surukarta into a cultural and artistic Mecca. By adopting this campaign strategu he turned the election into one about "democratic progress vs. democratic retrogression." In fact, many people worried if Prabowo were elected, Indonesian democracy would regress. As a result the "job performance card" won, and Jokowi came out ahead.

For Indonesia, Jokowi coming to power makes people both happy and worried. They are happy that Jokowi may be able to duplicate his success as mayor of Surukarta City and governor of Jakarta. They hope he can change Indonesia's culture of corruption and raise living standards for the impoverished majority. They are worried that Jokowi has experience only at the local government level. Also, he belongs to the PDI-P, a minority party in the legislature. Having a minority government will handicap his administration. Also, Jokowi must deal with former President Megawati and current Vice President Jusuf Kalla, both of whom are strongmen likely to resist his reforms.

Jokowi's victory represents the culmination of 16 years of democracy in Indonesia. Indonesia has transitioned from "democratic experimentation" to "democratic consolidation." By contrast, on Taiwan, democratization has been in effect for nearly three decades. There have been two changes in ruling parties. Yet the quality of democracy has remained the same. It is still characterized by coarseness, chicanery, disinformation, and mud-slinging. The opposition DPP refuses to abide by majority rule. It resorts to minority violence to obstruct economic and public welfare legislation. It even refuses to participate in a national policy conference, As a result, the government cannot implement policy. The ruling party lacks the guts and determination to win public support and trust. As a result, the machinery of state has ground to a halt. Compared to Indonesia, Taiwan must cope with ubiquitous political confrontation. It cannot take a single step forward. What, if anything is so wonderful about this sort of democracy?

看印尼民主鞏固，嘆台灣民主僵峙
【聯合報╱社論】
2014.07.29 03:19 am

歷經近兩周的開票，全球人口第四大國的印尼總統選舉結果揭曉，代表改革力量的民主奮鬥黨佐科威，以六％、八百萬票的差距贏了保守派的大印尼運動黨普拉波沃。八百萬票在許多中小型國家算是很大的差距，但對一億八千萬選民的印尼而言卻相對微小，也難怪普拉波沃不認輸，意圖上訴憲法法院推翻選舉結果。

佐科威是木匠之子，普拉波沃是軍事強人蘇哈托的女婿，有人形容這次大選是「平民對貴族」的戰爭。但仔細觀察，佐科威所屬的民主奮鬥黨，其黨魁是前軍事強人蘇卡諾的女兒梅嘉娃蒂，因此，這次的總統大選毋寧可以視為兩個強人的接力戰爭。印尼軍事強人獨裁統治雖已結束十六年，但政治上卻仍未擺脫強人的陰影。

過去十六年，印尼曾進行多次民主選舉，但歷任總統從哈比比、瓦西德、梅嘉娃蒂到尤多約諾，處處可見強人的身影：哈比比是蘇哈托時期的副總統，梅嘉娃蒂是蘇卡諾的女兒，而這次大選落敗的普拉波沃則是蘇哈托的女婿。難怪有人形容，印尼政治是在強人的陰影下進行的一場民主實驗，強人如同鬼魅般糾纏著印尼的民主腳步。

在這長達十六年的民主實驗當中，印尼在朝野對立及惡鬥下，行政效率非但未見提升，反而變得更為低落；此一態勢，讓現任總統尤多約諾在反對黨的惡意杯葛下，難以順利推動政令。此外，在為世族壟斷的經濟體制下，政治不但沒有變得清明廉能，反而更加沉淪；瓦希德因貪汙醜聞而被彈劾下台，便是一例。也由於對民主政治感到失望，不少印尼人民在這次大選中紛紛穿上印有蘇哈托肖像的T恤，上面寫著「在我統治時，更好」的口號。對獨裁統治者的緬懷追思，反映了印尼人民對民主的失望與迷茫。

也正是看準了印尼人懷念強人政治、厭憎民主亂象的心理，普拉波沃這次以蘇哈托女婿的身分投入大選，企圖利用情勢。普拉波沃以經濟民族主義的煽動言論，攻擊外國大企業利用市場開放竊奪印尼的天然資源，並指責歷任執政者賤賣國營企業給外國政府。他也以強人之姿，提出將極力消除政治腐敗，要恢復法律秩序，並追求社會的公平正義。普拉波沃的包裝，幾乎讓人忘記他曾是一九九八年出動特種部隊綁架異議學生的主謀之一。這次印尼大選有將近三千萬的年輕選民是「首投族」，他們絕大多數沒有過去獨裁政治的記憶，也是市場開放後貧富差距擴大的主要受害者；奇怪的是，這批首投族竟成為普拉波沃的堅定支持者。

反觀佐科威，在選舉過程中多半訴諸他擔任地方首長的傑出政績，例如他將犯罪猖獗的梭羅市成功改造成文化及藝術之都，此舉，成功將大選的主軸翻轉成為「進步的民主」與「倒退的民主」之爭。事實上，不少印尼人擔心普拉波沃當選會導致印尼民主倒退，也因此「政績牌」勝出，使佐科威脫穎而出。

佐科威上台，對印尼而言，一則以喜，一則以憂。喜的是，佐科威也許能複製他在梭羅市長及雅加達特別行政市長的成功經驗，改變印尼的貪腐惡習，並提升廣大窮人階級的生活水平；憂的是，佐科威畢竟只有地方執政經驗，而他所屬的「民主奮鬥黨」在國會居於少數，「朝小野大」的格局將不利於他的施政。同時，佐科威上有前總統梅嘉娃蒂及現任副總統卡拉兩大強人，這兩人極可能成為他推動改革的阻力。

佐科威這次的勝選，代表實施民主政治十六年的印尼，已經逐漸從「民主實驗」邁向「民主鞏固」。反觀台灣，雖已實施民主化將近三十年，且歷經兩度政黨輪替，遺憾的是，民主政治的品質與內涵始終未能更上層樓，而不斷在「你粗暴，我耍賴」、「你造謠、我抹黑」之間彼此牽拖。且看，在野黨不顧多數民意，利用「少數暴力」手段拖延各種經濟、民生法案，連國是會議都拒絕參加，使政府施政無處著力；而執政黨缺乏魄力與身段，無法爭取民眾的支持和信服，導致國家機器不斷空轉。比起印尼，台灣的政治只見處處僵峙、寸步難行，這樣的民主有何高明之處？