Contest of Ideas on Being a Nation

The temperature of national politics has begun to heat up ahead of the 2024 general election. Political parties’ leaders and cadres have started to get busy with planning strategies to win the contest.

Quantitatively, the measure of victory is a maximum increase in the number of seats in the legislature and the cabinet, and the peak is in winning presidency or the vice presidency. Apart from these, the other seats that party cadres are targeting include positions at state-owned enterprises (SOE) and ambassadorships.

In short, political victory is measured by success in securing positions and seats in the government to result in enjoying state facilities. So do not be surprised if these job hunters are willing to pay a high price in terms of thought, money and energy. Jer basuki mawa beya; success costs money. No pain, no gain.

As a result of the superficial meaning and agenda of the political struggle accompanied by high costs, political parties have become instruments and strategic partners for investors to build an oligarchy. State assets and positions are capitalized for the purpose of businesses, the total assets of which can compete with the state budget.

Bring back political dignity

Of all the books I've read, political knowledge and practice were very noble in the beginning. Their purpose and function are to regulate traffic and power networks in the government of the nation and the state. Aristotle said that all branches of science must ultimately submit to and serve the political praxis in order to create peace, progress and happiness for citizens.

So vital and noble is the role of politics in maintaining and advancing a nation and state that those who gain political power must be the nation’s best sons and daughters, recruited through a healthy, transparent and fair mechanism. Do not allow the nation's best sons and daughters with the passion and competence to participate in advancing the people to prosperity be cast aside, to be replaced by those who are unqualified simply because they have a lot of money to buy votes and are close to the party elite.

Political parties may rise and fall, or die and grow again. The political order may end up being succeeded by a new order with a new name. However, the basic principles and values to maintain the glory of politics must be guarded, not trampled on. One of these is the principle of justice.

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In Islamic political theory, being just is the main requirement for a leader. A just leader is one who has the commitment and capacity to protect the rights to which citizens are entitled. Therefore, a just leader will not want to take state facilities and the property of others that do not belong to them. Just leaders are against discrimination and collusion, because these undermine the principles of fairness and public accountability.

History teaches us that political turmoil is usually rooted in tyrannical governments, as opposed to fair and just governments. This principle of justice, if enforced, goes hand in hand with the agenda of eradicating corruption and applying the principle of meritocracy. In terms of pesantren (Islamic boarding schools), justice is putting something in its proper place (wadh'u syaiin fi mahalihi).

This principle is usually coupled with the words of the Prophet: If a job is left to someone who is not an expert, then wait for it to collapse. This advice is universal and very easy to prove, and more so, if the main task of a particular job is to manage the country. If the wrong person is chosen for the legislature, the executive branch and the head of state, the government will fall apart and the victims will be the people.

History teaches us that political turmoil is usually rooted in tyrannical governments, as opposed to fair and just governments.

The people will actually obey and respect the government, even if the economy is bankrupt, as long as the government and the people's representatives show serious performance, uphold justice, work according to their competencies and stand as exemplary figures in leading clean, honest and transparent lives. Therein lie the spirit and pillar of political glory. However, if these principles are not realized, the political scene turns into a dark and cruel world full of dirty games, battling each other for power in ways that are not commendable.

Then politicians are often compared to catfish, which prefers to live in murky, muddy waters where sunlight doesn’t reach. Ideally, watching the political stage should be like watching a football match, which relies on a combination of strength, brains and skill, so it is as though the audience is looking at fish in an aquarium, judging the quality of each player and admiring the action of star players.

Missing the new breakthrough

I remember what Cak Nur (Nurcholish Madjid) said, that politics in Indonesia always experiences changes in themes and actors with each generation. One generation lasts between 20 years and 25 years, along with a person's educational process and achievements. If calculated from birth, at the age of 25, a person has graduated and has the maturity to think and act according to their choices.

If this theory is used to look at the journey of the Indonesian people, then the Boedi Oetomo movement was established on 20 May 1908, which is commemorated each year as National Awakening Day. The year 1928 is remembered as Youth Pledge Day. In 1945, the Republic of Indonesia was established.

After its establishment, the Indonesian nation and state faced new challenges. It took a long process and very expensive social costs to consolidate the state. Conflicts between the sons of the nation emerged to culminate in the tragedy of 30 Sept. 1965, a dark chapter in the history of Indonesian politics and economy, the impacts from which continue today.

On 21 May 1998, there was another shift in the political theme and actors on the national stage with the end of Suharto's leadership. Pak Harto forgot, or was oblivious, to observing the emergence of a new generation that understood the meaning and spirit of democracy, and which demanded the establishment of a just, democratic and clean government. In the end, he was overthrown by his own children, educated as products of the New Order, who demanded change and refreshing the political paradigm due to decay in the existing order.

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In that angry atmosphere began the process of forming the Reform Era as an antithesis to the political practices of the Old Order and New Order, which were considered corrupt and authoritarian. The post-New Order consolidation to realize the Reform Era turned out to be quite a winding road, and started being established during the 2004 general election. Since then, the five-year election has become well established and in 2024, another general election will be held. This means that in 2024, the election will take place at the moment of the generational transition. If politicians and leaders are not observant in reading the signs of the times, they will be crushed.

Looking back, the emergence of any political order on the national stage has always been driven by a deep sense of disappointment and anger, so the new concepts that are born are neither concrete nor mature. This can also be seen in the Reform Era, which had good intentions with three main goals. First was to open the door of democracy as wide as possible as an antithesis to an authoritarian government, and then opening opportunities for the people to establish political parties without any restrictions like during the New Order era.

Second was to limit the maximum presidential term to just two successive terms, as a criticism of the previously indefinite presidential term. Third was to decentralize power as an antithesis to a centralized government, so the delivery chain of public service would be shorter. In addition, several commissions were formed as forums for public participation to assist and supervise executive institutions.

One of the most spectacular reform products was the emergence of Joko Widodo as a president who came from the grassroots. He is not of the party elite, not a general, not a conglomerate or an intellectual. He is a symbol of the wave of democratization in a political system that allows anyone to dream of becoming president.

By referring to the cycle of change in national politics every two decades, it seems that fatigue and decay of the political bureaucratic machine has also occurred at the end of the Reform Era, just like it did at the end of the Old Order and the New Order. The epidemic of corruption has again undermined the state's money. Corruption has become decentralized and systemic along almost all bureaucratic lines at both the central and regional levels.

The forms of corruption are not limited to stealing money, but are more sophisticated in infiltrating public policy, which is controlled by a group of oligarchs through the party machine. So, fighting corruption at this time cannot only be directed at the president as the center of government control because the government's power has been spread out, and so have the perpetrators of corruption across political parties, regional institutions and state officials.

One of the reasons this has happened is the very high political cost of obtaining legislative and executive posts. In such a situation, before entering the event to elect members of the legislature and a president and vice president, it is hoped that fresh, visionary, and constructive new ideas and programs will emerge from political figures for entering the order after the battle. Generational reforms are nearing an end.

Complexity of challenges

It is undeniable that in terms of the availability of clothing, food, vehicles, health and education, it is now much better than in the past. However, it must also be realized that the problems and demands of the life of the nation and the state are growing heavier and more complex. As the level of public education becomes higher, the quality of the public’s demands on government is also developing.

The people demand a democratic and clean government, strict law enforcement, job availability, and safeguarding the nation’s sovereignty and dignity. The people are also increasingly aware of the intervention of foreign powers in exploiting Indonesia's natural resources and thwarting the country’s growth. This theme was not so prominent in the past, considering that conflicts still occur among the nation’s children. The power of transnational ideology has always existed, but is now increasingly more open.

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The convergence of digital culture, the spirit of democracy and the increase in people's education has made people more free and critical in expressing their criticisms and aspirations. The government bureaucracy continues to lag behind in responding to social dynamics and problems that always seem noisy and restless. The people easily read the digital footprints of politicians running for office. The people are waiting for politicians to offer big ideas and programs, observing their behavior and criticisms towards the political reality during the Reform Era and the concepts that have just entered the post-Reform Era.

If the nation's problems, the sources of which are upstream, are not resolved in a simple way, we will become trapped in fighting over issues at the downstream level. The challenges of developing the nation in the future is even more difficult, because the upstream and downstream problems that exist are already intertwined. People today will always be critical of observing, protecting and demanding the implementation of the ideals of national independence and Pancasila in their daily lives, which they still feel are far away. Or is it farther away?

KOMPAS/DEONISIA ARLINTA

Komaruddin Hidayat

Komaruddin Hidayat, Rector

This article was translated by Kurniawan Siswo.