Urgency for Strengthening Civil Society

Kompas/Riza Fathoni

.A number of residents participate in the Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity) parade from the Arjuna Wijaya horse statue monument on Jalan Medan Merdeka Selatan, Central Jakarta to the Tugu Tani, Menteng monument, on Saturday (19/11/2016). The parade was held to promote the awareness in maintaining Pancasila, the 1945 Constitution, the Republic of Indonesia, and Indonesian diversity

Ki Hadjar Dewantara (1950) explains in his analysis titled “Pancasila” that the Preamble to the 1945 Constitution contains the aspirations of national struggle.

The Preamble to the 1945 Constitution states concisely and clearly: 1) independence is an inalienable right of all nations, all colonialism must be abolished in this world; 2) the state of Indonesia shall be independent, united, sovereign, just and prosperous; 3) the government of the state shall a) protect all the people of Indonesia and all territories belonging to Indonesia; b) improve public welfare: c) educate the people; and d) participate in establishing a world order based on freedom, perpetual peace and social justice. The state principles are: 1) Belief in one God; 2) just and civilised humanity; 3) Indonesian unity (nationalism); 4) democracy; and 5) social justice.

It seems that Ki Hadjar Dewantara had a different interpretation. What is widely understood to be the state’s objectives has been described as an obligation or an agenda to be implemented by government. If this view is acceptable, the question is, how do we ascertain that this agenda is actually carried out?

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As mentioned in the Preamble: (i) the government is based on the rule of law; (ii) in all aspects it is oriented to the public (interests); and (iii) it performs within the corridors of democracy. The first point demands that power comes from law and not the other way around, to ensure that the democratic process (people’s sovereignty) and the principles of Pancasila are instituted. This, of course, involves the problem of implementation. It is at this point that civil society becomes important as an intermediate power that fulfills the role of ascertaining that democracy is executed so the public agenda constitutes the one and only mandate in the administration of state authority.

The question is, how do we ascertain that this agenda is actually carried out?

Status and roles

Ernest Gellner (1995) defined civil society as “that set of diverse nongovernmental institutions which is strong enough to counterbalance the state and, while not preventing the state from fulfilling its role of keeper of the peace and arbitrator among major interests, can nevertheless prevent it from dominating and atomizing the rest of society”.

In the context of contemporary Indonesia, civil society can to some extent take the form of nongovernmental organizations, religious organizations (like Nahdlatul Ulama/NU and Muhammadiyah) and various societal communities concerned with diverse issues that directly affect civilians.

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KOMPAS/WILIBRORDUS MEGANDIKA WICAKSONO

Supporters welcome the Purbalingga regent candidate M Sulhan Fauzi and vice regent candidate Zaini Makarim Supriyatno or the Oji-Zaini pair in Rembang, Purbalingga after a registration at the local election committee (KPU) on Sunday (6/9/2020). Some of the supporters did not wear masks properly.

In history, the role of civil society can be traced back even to the initial founding of the Republic. Referring to Gellner, civil society generally has two major roles. First, it reinforces society through a variety of educational activities, socioeconomic empowerment and other undertakings. Its main aim is to enhance society’s bargaining power vis-à-vis the different powers deemed to reduce the public’s access to welfare as well as to ng circumstances and everything opposed to human action and justice.

Second, it enlivens and maintains public spaces in such a way so that citizens can express themselves freely, and by this means, they can communicate their interests in a most significant manner. This means that they aren’t just giving voice to their interests, but that their voices are also heard to serve as a basis for public policy. The main aim is to urge politics to fully perform within the framework of a democratic state, which has the following features according to Franz Magnis-Suseno (1997): (a) a constitutional state; (b) the government is actually controlled by society; (c) free general elections; (d) the majority principle (votes); (e) democratic rights are guaranteed.

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All these formulations are certainly put to the test in reality. It is exactly here that a problem arises in the broad difference between the ideal and the reality. Several current cases can be put forward as evidence to what has been occurring, such as the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Law Revision, the Constitutional Court (MK) Law Revision, the public debate over the omnibus law and the regional elections (pilkada) amid the Covid-19 pandemic. In the latter case, the ongoing public debate is whether either to proceed with Pilkada 2020 or to postpone it.

Civil society in general, at least from what can be gleaned in the views of religious organizations like the NU, Muhammadiyah, the Bishops Council of Indonesia (KWI) and the Central Board of the Indonesian Buddhists Association (Permabudhi), as well as figures such as Jusuf Kalla and Azyumardi Azra, wants the Pilkada 2020 to be postponed and for all parties to focus on Covid-19 control and management. Nonetheless, the regional elections are to proceed as planned and are to be held with the application of the standard health protocols. If public participation is the essence of democracy, what is occurring is growing distance between the political elite and the people (Kompas, 25/9/2020).

Strengthening civil society

The situation as Kompas (25/9/2020) illustrated in “Suara Rakyat Tak Didengar (The People’s Voice Unheard)”, surely raises an occasion for reflection: Why? What is really happening?

Two possibilities exist: First, the bargaining power of civil society is weakening; second, the state’s position is strengthening or it could be said to be becoming even more “autonomous”, or a combination of the two.

A Kompas article (5/3/2020) said that following two decades of reform, civil society as a force for democracy was facing tough challenges on two fronts: internal (funding, volunteer recruitment and fragmentation) and external, especially in terms of societal division.

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Under such a condition, it is of course very difficult for civil society to consolidate and act as an intermediate power to push the public agenda. Meanwhile, amid the narrowing space for civil freedoms, does the state no longer need the people’s support so it can easily ignore their voice? An examination of the current configuration in the House majority and support from various forces, including civil society, indeed indicates political room that enables the state to act more autonomously.

Reformasi (the 1998 reform movement), like the transition from the Old Order to the New Order, has opened broad opportunities for change and therefore easily tempts societal forces, or civil society, to act beyond what is needed. This can be understood if civil society expects the state to fully implement the democratization agenda, as the opportunity is open wide. What is seldom taken into the calculation is the political complexity that arises afterward.

In this context, it seems that reflection is necessary in that the state is not the party to assume the position of power in realizing democratization, but rather the party that possesses an inherent obligation to work or behave according to the tenets of democracy.

Kompas/Hendra A Setyawan

A billboard for the success of the 2020 regional elections (Pikada 2020) is put on at Jalan Siliwangi, Pamulang, South Tangerang, Banten, on Sunday (6/9/2020). Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the simultaneous regional elections will be held on 9 Dec. 2020 instead of 23 Sept.2020 as initially planned.

When the state assumes the position to realize democratization, this means that the state has supplanted the role of civil society. In the case of those who advocate for the public agenda, the voices of the state and civil society may become indistinguishable. What is challenging is when civil society deviates while it loses independence. This can explain why stagnation has occurred.

In this situation, is there still hope for strengthening civil society? A Kompas opinion poll (March 2020) found that 86.3 percent of respondents believed that Indonesia was still in need of a strong civil society movement to control the government. This is certainly important capital for civil society to reclaim its identity.

Several things can be done. First, strengthening civil society essentially has two dimensions: emancipation and empowerment. Emancipation is the capacity to maintain distance in such a way so that civil society does not become a pragmatic part of the competing political forces. Empowerment is to develop the capacity to maintain its ties with the grassroots on the one hand, and on the other, to boost its proficiency in producing ideas that envisage the public’s aspirations.

Public discourse should be full of public interests and be directed in an attempt to clear the public domain of all other interests and those opposed to the public interest.

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Second, spaces for public participation should be expanded and enhanced. What is needed? The answer: 1) steps to ensure that government performance follows the principles of democracy, and that the merit system is fully implemented for public security and advancement; 2) steps to ensure that the process of political contest is fair and improves democracy as guided by the wisdom of deliberation as outlined in the Pancasila state ideology. We don’t feel wisdom at work in providing guidance and direction; conversely, what is at work are money politics and other practices of the ilk that essentially use fraud as a political strategy.

Finally: 3) steps to ensure that civil society will not be subsumed into the competing sociopolitical forces. This is important so that after the electoral season is over, what happens is that the entire agenda that has been offered is executed with high technocratic skills and under the effective control of civil society.

Strengthening civil society is definitely not for the benefit of civil society. The nation has a great challenge to face, especially if it is on the route towards “Century of National Independence”. Strengthening civil society is basically a strategic move to expand public participation in reinvigorating development. Reinventing Indonesia by Prof. Ginandjar Kartasasmita and Dr Joseph J Stern (2020) can be a reference for examining the nation’s problems and its experience in rising above its difficulties.

Kompas

Sudirman Said

Today, the various problems have emerged and converged are the pandemic, climate change, geopolitical change, technological development with extensive impacts and several other issues that could turn into a “crisis” just as public participation is weakening. By involving all elements of the nation, especially by ascertaining that development is solely intended to fulfill the public interest, the capacity to resolve strategic problems will be enhanced so that, as Ginanjar Kartasmita showed, the democratic system leads the way forward to the advancement of humanity, society and the Indonesian nation.

Sudirman Said, Chairman, Institut Harkat Negeri (State Dignity Institute); Secretary-General, Indonesian Red Cross (PMI)