The alarm can become the signs of the times to do yearend reflection to renew the determination of all components of the nation, especially the political elite, to be more sensitive to reading the signs of the times.
By
J KRISTIADI
·5 minutes read
The tradition of the year change is always celebrated in a happy atmosphere because the new year spreads an aura of hope for a better life in the future. Usually, expectations are accompanied by a resolution, a serious promise to oneself, about an important agenda for next year, in line with the estimated challenges that will be faced. In the perspective of the life of the nation and state, one of the important agendas in front of the eyes in 2022 is a stage leading to the 2024 General Elections; so that the festival of democracy will further strengthen the people as the holder of the highest sovereignty of the state.
The target is quite heavy. First, the 2024 General Elections will be held in the midst of the increasingly declining credibility of democracy. Many studies on this issue, especially those related to the pandemic storm, have caused the primordial barriers of society to become thicker. Second, regulations of the 2024 General Elections have received a lot of criticism from civil society because they have been drafted without intensively involving community components so that the regulations deviate from the basic thinking about the meaning of the simultaneous elections. Third, the widespread practice of money politics stems from the abuse of political power which drains the state's wealth. Corruption as an extraordinary crime has become a systemic part of the political process in Indonesia.
A sign of the times that threatens the sovereignty of the people is the increasingly rampant corruption. This signal was voiced by an editorial in Kompas, 7 December 2021, titled "Signal of the Danger of Corruption". In essence, the results of a survey by Kompas and Indikator Politik show that people see corruption as getting worse. In quantitative figures, nine out of 10 people are worried that the escalation of corruption will be increasingly difficult to control. Ironically, the public's assessment of the eradication of corruption that says whether it is good or bad gives almost the same proportion. The public is divided into two categories in responding to the issue.
The most important meaning, those who think corruption eradication is good, seem to have a perception that this disobedient behavior is a normal act. This assumption is the resonance of the misguided perception of political elites who consider corruption as patriotic behavior as long as it is used for the political interests of the group. They have the heart to ignore the destructive power of corruption, which has a degenerative character, thereby resulting in the decaying of state institutions, politics, and government; and destroying the moral knitting of living together.
The results of the poll are not only deciphered simply as statistical information about the dead numbers, because behind the numbers there are hidden signs of the times that will affect the nation's journey in the future. The political elites are expected to explore the inner space of society so that they are more sensitive to the signs of the times. An illustration of the dull feeling of tasting the signs of the times is a consideration in seeing elections simply as a democratic process and building a deceptive political civilization into mere routine rituals that are misleading. In fact, the funds spent from the state budget are quite large, sometimes even causing casualties. However, the results are that the oligarchy is getting stronger.
The practice of procedural democracy, which is just a shell of power, leads to the collapse of democracy. This phenomenon is spread from Latin America, Eastern Europe, Asia and so on. These symptoms prove that the change of a democratic regime to an authoritarian one does not require the muzzle of a gun, only through the mechanism of democratic procedures. The way to kill democracy with military force is already obsolete. Today's democracy falls down not because of a military coup, but in a meek way, but as a result it destroys the order of political civilization.
Another symptom that must be taken into consideration is the increasingly heated geopolitical dynamics, especially due to the competition between the United States and China. Unfortunately, the competition between the two superpowers has spread to other countries and is now getting closer to Indonesia. Vigilance needs to be increased considering that the overthrow of power does not need a military coup, but by utilizing the shell scheme of procedural democracy.
The book Covert Regime Change by Lindsey O'Rourke, published by Cornell University as quoted by Kompas, (6/12/2021), compiles a number of countries that were overthrown by the US and its allies because they were considered to threaten its national interests, including Indonesia. The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) document states that the operation to support a PRRI/Permesta rebellion around 1950 was part of the US intelligence operation and its friends.
Washington has also poured billions of US dollars to push for changes in political systems in other countries. The funds are channeled through, among other things, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). For example, US$60 million was disbursed for the promotion of democracy in China and Russia in the 2016-2019 period. Indonesia has also enjoyed similar funds (Kompas, 6/12/2021).
The alarm can become the signs of the times to do yearend reflection to renew the determination of all components of the nation, especially the political elite, to be more sensitive to reading the signs of the times, especially the signs that gives signal to the continuity of the nation and state.
J KRISTIADI, Senior Researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)