The Stagnation of Civil Society

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

An anticorruption activist holds a poster which reads “help” at a #savekpk rally at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) building in South Jakarta on Sept. 8, 2019 (8/9/2019). The protest was held to express concerns over efforts to weaken the antigraft body, including a plan to revise the KPK Law.

Following the latest discussion of local and foreign experts and observers, the setbacks in Indonesia’s democracy in the past several years are linked to the stagnation of civil society. If this stagnation continues, the future of Indonesia’s democracy will be increasingly uncertain.

Indonesia’s democracy was once praised as a full democracy by various international democracy advocacy and monitoring agencies, due to the presence of a flourishing, dynamic and spirited civil society. However, political developments in the past several years, especially on democracy governance, has led to civil society increasingly losing its élan.

In certain views, the condition of civil society is already tragic. Peter van Tuijl, a democracy and civil society activist who have long resided in Indonesia, wrote Indonesian Civil Society: Struggling to Survive in 2019.

Regarding political developments ahead of the general election on April last year, van Tuijl, a visiting fellow at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies of the University of Notre Dame, wrote that Indonesian civil society was currently in a defensive mode. In such a position, civil society is busier criticizing intolerant groups or uncivil society and fending off accusations of being “antireligion” or even “anti-Indonesia”.

Kompas/Wawan H Prabowo

have become a medium for people to promote religious tolerance, such as the one on Jl. Juanda, Depok, West Java, as seen on Feb. 22 (22/2/2020).

The perception that civil society is struggling to survive was confirmed in a Kompas poll (2/3/2020). Some 52.1 percent of respondents believe that the power of civil society has stagnated compared to in the early years of the Reform Era. Less than half (43.5 percent) of total respondents seeing civil society as being in a better position today than back then.

Indonesia is actually very lucky to have four large groups of civil society. First is the group of civil society organizations that advocate the people in various sectors. Second is the professionals who work in their professional interests. Third include students, academicians and intellectuals. Fourth is religious civil organizations, such as Nahdlatul Ulama, Muhammadiyah and church-based ones.

They also act as a civil power vis-à-vis the state. The play their role as a critical force and a checks and balances against the government.

The first, third and fourth groups, despite not being political in nature, still play their roles as members of civil society in nurturing civic culture, an essential civility for the flourishing of democracy. They also act as a civil power vis-à-vis the state. The play their role as a critical force and a checks and balances against the government.

Indonesia’s civil society once played an important role in nurturing democracy in the early years of the New Order under president Soeharto. Despite Soeharto’s tendency for repression, civil society continued to nurture the growth of civic culture as the nucleus of democracy

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

Human rights activists hold the Kamisan (Thursdays) silent protest on Nov. 28, 2019, in front of the State Palace in Jakarta. The 612th Kamisan was filled with reflection on the bill on information and electronic transactions (ITE). The protest routinely voices the injustices and struggles of families of victims of human rights violations.

Civil society also played an important role in the downfall of the New Order. Due to a strong civil society, Indonesia’s transition from authoritarianism to democracy from 1998-1999 onwards was relatively smooth and peaceful. However, democracy and the liberalization of politics in the Reform Era also led to disorientation among civil society groups. Temptations and offers of power have led to many civil society groups and figures, especially intellectuals, academicians and activists, to take the plunge into politics.

This is the process that this writer refers to as “unmaking of civil society”. Civil society groups taking this route have mostly failed in the process of democracy politics; they are “too naïve” in politics and “lack nutrients” in the political process that has become increasingly expensive and transactional. Civil society has also become increasingly powerless in the face of power that tightly clutches various facets of life.

Kompas/Heru Sri Kumoro

Human rights activists hold the Kamisan (Thursdays) silent protest on Oct. 24, 2019, in front of the State Palace in Jakarta. The activists called on the government to settle past human rights violations in connection with the Semanggi Tragedy that occurred on Nov. 13, 1998. They also demanded an immediate resolution of other cases, such as rampant corruption.

This phenomenon can be clearly seen in several recent cases. Civil society was effectively set aside in the defanging of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) through the KPK Law. Thus far, civil society and the public have yet to be involved in the deliberation and formulation of omnibus laws.

Other developments have also been unfortunate for civil society. The recent strengthening of the police state and a recentralization of government authority have been in line with the reduction of control and checks and balances from civil society. Furthermore, civil society is also forced to face a “political coalition” – to not say “political conspiration” – that places group political interests above all. In facing these symptoms, civil society is rendered almost powerless.

In facing such harsh conditions, civil society needs a revitalization. Without it, the future of democracy and the Indonesian nation will be a pricey gamble.

ABK

Azyumardi Azra

The society is quite willing to reempower civil society. A Kompas poll found that two-thirds of respondents aged 17-30 and 31-40 years old are willing to be involved in civil society movements.

Once more, only with a strong civil society can Indonesia grow to become a consolidated democracy with good governance to ensure the country’s advancement.

AZYUMARDI AZRA, History professor at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University; member of AIPI