The problem and challenge in democracy in Indonesia is existed in state building level, societal level, political institution, and the leadership level. That was what Dean of UPH Faculty of Social and Political Science Prof. Aleksius Jemadu, Ph.D. said.
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| A.M. Fachir (left) received a souvenir from UPH Rector Jonathan L. Parapak. | (left-right) Azyumardi Azra, Rizal Sukma, moderator Victor Silaen, Don K. Marut, and Aleksius Jemadu. |
| The problem and challenge in democracy in Indonesia is existed in state building level, societal level, political institution, and the leadership level. That was what Dean of UPH Faculty of Social and Political Science Prof. Aleksius Jemadu, Ph.D. said in Seminar ?Prospek Demokrasi Indonesia: Manfaat dan Tantangan (Democracy Prospect in Indonesia: Benefit and Challenge? on Monday, February 6, 2012 at UPH. The seminar held by UPH International Relations Department and Directorate of Public Diplomacy Ministry of Foreign Affairs invited speakers Rizal Sukma (Executive director of Center for Strategic and International Studies), Don K. Marut (Head of International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development) and Asyumardi Azra (Director of Post Graduate UIN Syarih Hidayatullah).
In his speech, Prof. Aleksius mentioned that Indonesia had many challenges in democracy. ?The leaders manage the country by personal taste, not by constitution,? told Prof. Aleksius explaining one of the problems in state level. In addition, he also mentioned that the state fails to develop the obeying law culture. In societal level, Indonesians were easily provoked with SARA issue. This indicated the low trust while this element was one of the most crucial elements in democracy. In institutional level, political party and parliament were no longer defenders of rule of law, instead became the violators of rule of law. Moreover, in leadership level, the national leaders did not care about some huge issues, such as human rights violations, corruption, and radicalism in the name of religion. There were no leaders that could become the role model for people in running the democracy. ?Indonesia has weak law enforcement,? said Azyumardi Azra. Rizal Sukma mentioned that democracy has became the national identity of Indonesia though there were still many excesses. ?Democracy should unite the nation, not divide it,? he added. He also explained that Indonesia has been struggling in executing democratic foreign policy because it was hard to be accepted by ASEAN countries. Looking at Islam perspective, Azyumardi Azra said that it was not easy to develop democracy in Muslim areas. However, although approximately 88,7 percent of Indonesians were Muslim, Indonesia was not a Muslim country. ?Pancasila is a blessing,? told him as he explained Pancasila as the foundation of Indonesia?s democracy. Indonesia was in progress of executing a good democracy. However, democracy has strengthened the nation character and gave big contribution. General Director of IDP, Ambassador A.M. Fachir in his speech mentioned, ?democracy has provided a room for us to express ourselves to keep the nation united and escort us into a more prominent place among the nations.? (dee) UPH Media Relations |
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