The year 1999 was a tumultuous one for Indonesian politics. It not only held its first post-Suharto general election in June 1999, but also later in the fall selected its fourth president. Perhaps more importantly, new political space and social pressures drastically changed the Indonesian political landscape, creating an environment of greater political contestation and participation. This panel explores the ways in which different social groups responded to and participated in this historic turn of events. Specifically, it includes a closer examination of the Islamic community, civil society, women, and Chinese Indonesians. Each of these social groups experienced tremendous change in their respective roles in Indonesian politics. The panelists will discuss these changes, while noting some of the remaining obstacles to the full societal participation. The panelists will also offer their analysis of the roles of different social groups in Indonesia’s future political constellation.

All of the panelists are academically-trained Indonesians, who have returned to Indonesia and become involved as policymakers. They include two sociologists, one historian, and one political scientist. They are theorists turned practitioners, which allows them to present some very practical insights in a more theoretical framework. They represent the future intellectual leadership of this dynamic country. Our plan is to limit each of the presentations to approximately ten minutes, and devote most of the panel time to the Q&A session to encourage broader audience participation.

Muhammad A. S. Hikam, Indonesian Institute of Sciences

Indonesia is the largest Islamic country in the world, and yet the Islamic community has historically played a relatively minor role in Indonesian politics. After decades of being marginalized by previous regimes, Islamic leaders now have new political space and the opportunity to participate more fully. The Islamic community is by no means a homogenous social group, and so they have different political demands and express them in different ways. Some Islamic leaders call for an Islamic state, but certainly not all. Also, political parties are one obvious vehicle for participating, but civil society organizations offer another means for expressing their demands.

The role of religion in post-Suharto politics is greatly changed. Three examples sufficiently demonstrate how Islam has arrived front and center on the political stage. The first president after Suharto’s resignation was B. J. Habibie, who served as chairman of ICMI, an Islamic intellectual think tank. Second, among the many new political party leaders, two prominent figures are Abdurrachman Wahid and Amien Rais, who respectively headed Nahdatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, which are the two largest Islamic membership organizations. Third, before the general election results were even complete, Megawati Sukarnoputri’s PDI-P was well in the lead, and therefore there was much controversy about whether Islam allows for a female president. The question remains how these various political players will use Islam in order to enhance their own power.

Kastorius Sinaga, Indonesian Centre for Electoral Information and Voter Education

Indonesian civil society was greatly restricted by the Suharto regime. Society’s political participation was limited to its role as the "floating masses." That is, people could campaign during the campaign period, and people could vote on election day, but otherwise they were to abstain from any political activity. New Order regulations such as this greatly restricted the movement and development of Indonesian civil society. Despite these obstacles, however, a fledgling civil society, partly in the form of non-governmental organizations (or NGOs), did emerge during the Suharto regime. They resisted governmental pressure to cease their political activities. With the collapse of the Suharto era, the number of NGOs has exploded, their activities increased, and their role changed dramatically. Perhaps most visible during the election period was the presence of voter education NGOs and monitoring organizations. What began as nascent organizations have strengthened into legitimate political players. A key factor in the strengthening of Indonesian civil society is legal reform, or at least the tendency of the Indonesian government and military no longer to enforce so strictly laws and regulations that had been used by the New Order government to depoliticize Indonesian society. Obstacles to the full societal participation still exist, but considering their starting point, they have made significant progress in this past year.

Wardah Hafidz, Urban Poor Consortium

Demands to end corruption, collusion and nepotism, commonly known by its Indonesian abbreviation KKN, became the battle cry of the reform movement. Even though societal actors were successful in bringing an end to the Suharto regime after 32 years of authoritarian rule, they were not able to curb corrupt practices. Indeed, money politics clouded the first post-Suharto parliamentary elections held in June 1999.

Money politics affected these elections in many different ways. First, money politics was not limited to election day itself, but was apparent throughout the entire political process from early 1999, through the campaign period, until the election of the president in October. Second, it occurred at many different levels. International funds that were earmarked for social safety net programs to assist poverty-stricken Indonesians instead were used by political parties to fill their own coffers. At the national level in Jakarta, money politics played an insidious role in the selection of candidates and parliamentary members. At the local level, the political parties’ efforts to buy votes was rampant with T-shirts, rice, and even cash.

The Urban Poor Consortium played a critical role in exposing money politics during this tumultuous period of Indonesian politics. Even as some hail the 1999 elections as the first democratic elections since 1955, the continuity of corrupt political practices from the Suharto regime is more troubling than the subtle differences.

Benny Subianto, Institute for the Studies on Free Flow of Information

Recent political events in Indonesia have changed Chinese Indonesians’ views and attitudes about politics. During the Suharto regime, they enjoyed great economic power, but had no commensurate political power or protection. Sometimes they even became the political scapegoats of the Suharto regime. In a sense they had surrendered their political rights in return for this access to economic privilege. With Suharto’s resignation, however, they suddenly have the opportunity to participate politically.