[nasional_list] [ppiindia] The mystification of the unitary state of Indonesia

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20051014.F03&irec=2



The mystification of the unitary state of Indonesia 
Riwanto Tirtosudarmo, Jakarta

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono attended the commemoration of "Pancasila 
Sanctity" Day on Oct. 1, a practice that was scrapped by former president 
Abdurrahman Wahid. The purpose of the celebration, however, has changed to not 
only remember the (non-communist) victims of the alleged coup attempt by the 
now defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), but to reaffirm the country's 
commitment to the concept of the Unitary State of Indonesia, known by its 
Indonesian acronym "NKRI".

NKRI until now is still regarded as having a sacred and mystical status that 
stands above and beyond all other interests. 

Indonesia, in contrast with the neighboring state of Malaysia, was born as a 
nation with a strong sentiment of civic nationalism. The Javanese, although 
demographically the dominant ethnic group, accepted non-ethnic based 
nationalism. 

On Oct. 28, 1928, leaders of various youth organizations gathered in Batavia 
(now Jakarta) and declared the Youth Pledge -- One Nation, One Nationality, and 
One Language. 

"Indonesia", an obscure Greek word first coined by G.W. Earl and J.R. Logan in 
their articles written in 1850, was subsequently used by a progressive student 
organization in the Netherlands and became an important symbol of nationalism 
and a rallying slogan for nationalist leaders in the struggle for independence. 

When our founding fathers declared the nation's independence on Aug. 17, 1945, 
secular ideologies (nationalism, communism and socialism) apart from Islam 
became the basis for party politics after independence. 

Political life in the fifties and early sixties shows the continuation of 
trans-ethnic based parties and the importance of civil society in Indonesia. 
After the Sept. 30 tragedy, and the ouster of the country's first president 
Sukarno, only the military and the weak nationalist and Islamic parties still 
existed in the Indonesian political landscape. 

The military under Gen. Soeharto, who became Indonesia's second president in 
1968, slowly transformed itself into a powerful organization that 
comprehensively infiltrated national politics and civilian government. The 
Indonesian political terrain was depoliticized under the new quasi ideology of 
developmentalism. The government, supported by the U.S. and the West generally, 
focused national development strategy on economic growth. 

Furthermore, under Soeharto political parties were marginalized and the regions 
become peripheralized. In this period, decentralization was conducted within 
the contexts of over-centralization and the deepening process of mystification 
of Indonesia as a conclusive and final unitary state. 

In the New Order's period a narrow version of Indonesian nationalism was 
entrenched and became a source of intimidation and persecution for the 
government's critics and any groups that were perceived as a threat to national 
integration and the political stability of the ruling elites. 

With the fall of Soeharto from power in 1998 political parties flourished 
again. The 1945 Constitution was amended, and general elections were far more 
democratic. The over-centralization was loosening up. 

It is within this changing climate of decentralizing politics that ethnicity 
emerged as a strong mobilizing cultural movement in the post-Soeharto political 
landscape. The emergence of ethnic politics in the current decentralizing era 
could have detrimental impacts on Indonesia's nation-building process. 

The strengthening of ethnocentrism -- mostly reflected by non Javanese -- that 
developed in conjunction with the implementation of new decentralization 
policies could be seen as a process of disintegration from within. From the 
perspective of ethnic relations in Indonesia it also interesting to see whether 
the current emergence of ethnic politics also reflects the long suppressed 
anti-Javanese sentiment. 

Relations between the centre and regions have always been an important 
political agenda item and are constantly being negotiated throughout the life 
of the republic. 

However, the mystification of NKRI under Soeharto is regaining momentum again 
now. The military's strong perception of the nation as essentially constituting 
a spatial entity with a clear geographic boundaries that should be jealously 
guarded from external threats has become the underlying factor in mystifying 
NKRI as a sacred cow with all its taboos. 

From this narrow nationalistic view point the possible implementation local 
autonomy in Aceh and Papua, or federalism as a logical political alternative 
for a future Indonesia, has always been resisted by the ruling elites. 

Yet, on the contrary, Indonesia has been experiencing a process of 
disintegration from within under the sacredness of NKRI. A celebration of 
national symbols is indeed crucial in strengthen people's feeling of 
nationhood, however it should not obliterate it. 

The writer is a researcher at the Research Center for Society and Culture, 
Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI). 


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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