INDONESIA’S MEDDLESOME PRIEST PASSES                         Duncan Graham

(Credit:  Erlinawati Graham)

 

“Religion is being used as an instrument of power in Indonesia, manipulated by the State and big business. Politicians are continuing to use religion for their own ends and consequently risking harmony.”

The words are those of Antonius Benny Susetyo best known as Romo (Father) Benny and probably the most recognisable Catholic priest in Muslim-majority Indonesia. He was frequently on TV vigorously advocating rational inquiry and pluralism, and in demand for public debates.

In one campaign he unsuccessfully supported scrapping religious affiliation from ID cards, later telling this writer: “It will be some time before Indonesians can accept the idea that the state and religion should be divorced.

"The important things are not the number of places of worship, but the creation of a life of togetherness. We have to become better educated and intellectually more mature.”

The stirring has stopped: The prominent social activist died last week aged 55 from complications with diabetes leaving a gulf in the never-ending debate about religions in the Republic.

 Indonesia’s leading daily Kompas headlined his passing  by describing him as the ‘Pro Common People Clergyman and Critic of the Catholic Church’. The hundreds of wreaths came from all religions and political leaders, including President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo.

Benny fell ill while lecturing in Pontianak, the capital of West Kalimantan.  His job was Stafsus (special staff) with the national Badan Pembinaan Ideologi Pancasila (Pancasila Ideology Development Agency. His topic was The Fragility of Ethics.

Founding president Soekarno helped create Pancasila (five principles) to counter radicals' demands that the new nation be a theocracy.

The tenets are belief in the one and only God, a just and civilized humanity, the unity of the Republic, democracy led by wisdom in deliberation / representation, and social justice for all.

About three per cent of the population (less than 9 million) is Catholic with the faith dominant only in Flores and other Eastern Islands.  Its temporal work includes non-discriminatory hospitals, schools and universities.

Benny has not been apolitical, favouring the Partai Demokrasi Indonesia Perjuangan (Democratic Party of Struggle – PDI-P) led by fifth President Megawati Soekarnoputri (2001-2004).

His brother Andreas is a member of the Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat (House of Reps) with the PDI-P. It holds most seats but doesn't govern. Gerindra, run by president-elect Prabowo Subianto has formed a majority coalition and will take office on 20 October,

Benny was buried in Malang, East Java where he was born and educated in theology and philosophy.  After graduating, the Church tasked him to seek common ground with Muslims.

His mission was rapidly tested by fire – literally, as mobs started fighting non-Muslims and torching churches in the chaos following Soeharto quitting office,

A decade ago he was interviewed by this journalist. There’s no evidence Benny shifted his philosophies since, though last year he retired from diocesan duties to focus on advocacy.

 It’s a priest’s calling to be concerned with souls, to teach the Gospel.  How do you justify your involvement in politics?

“A priest’s job is also to speak out on issues concerning the people’s welfare, morality and ethics, to be concerned for humanity, peace and justice. That’s the teaching of Catholicism; these are the values of all religions.”

Brother Andreas

Are you in danger of putting off Muslim voters by expecting Protestants and Catholics to vote for Jokowi (then the PDI-P candidate)?

“I’m not trying to cause divisions and wish religion wasn’t part of politics.  Jesus was a politician because he advocated for the poor and weak against the rulers – but he wasn’t a member of a political party.

“Many religious people don’t understand politics, so need information, to have issues explained. That’s my role. A priest must also follow his conscience.”

Has that got you into strife?

“With a few, though not the Vatican. Pope Francis has spoken out against inequalities caused by bad economic policies.”

(In 2008 Benny was bashed by thugs believed to be from the radical Front Pembela Islam (Islamic Defenders’ Front) attacking peace marchers in central Jakarta. He spent five days in a Singapore hospital.

The Christian press claimed Benny was the victim of a planned assault by fundamentalists trying to fracture Indonesian pluralism. The victim said he didn’t know why he was bashed and had forgiven his assailants. “Maybe they were after my handphone,” he joked.

Isn’t this all academic?  Non-Muslims are such a small minority with little influence.

“Every non-Muslim is still part of our Republic. Everyone has influence, whoever they are, irrespective of their religion.”

In the UK you’ve spoken on ‘Pluralism in Peril in Indonesia’. What do you mean?

“All the evidence shows intolerance is growing and spreading beyond the original pockets.

 What do you expect from the next president?

“To stamp out corruption, that’s number one. He should uphold Pancasila and strengthen the rule of law. He must stop the abuse of power and care for the poor.” 

 Many argue Indonesia needs a strong leader so the president should be a military man.

“The Indonesian people don’t need a dictator. We want honest leaders with rational policies, not populist slogans. If you interview me in five years, I hope that religious issues won’t be part of the campaign.”

How do you feel about the future of democracy in Indonesia?

“Optimistic if the people are rational in their approach to politics, but not if we continue following the culture of the elite.

"We need a new paradigm for religious teaching that will interpret the texts in accordance with modern usage.

"Take off your exclusive glasses and start looking at the world in an inclusive way. The dialogue must be about life. The challenge for religion is to take sides with the downtrodden, the poor, migrant workers – and advocate on their behalf.

"Plurality should be the main issue in the development of our national character."

First published in Indonesia at Melbourne, 8 October 2024:

https://indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/obituary-romo-benny-indonesias-meddlesome-priest-dies-at-55/

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MORE WASHINGTON, LESS JAKARTA

IGNORING AN ELECTION NEXT DOOR          

‘The World’ is a nightly news show on Australia Plus, our overseas TV showcase transmitted to 44 countries in Asia and the Pacific .  The one-hour programme pulls together the day’s global issues, often adding lengthy interviews dissecting international developments.

On 27 June the prime set-piece story in Southeast Asia was Indonesia’s first simultaneous regional elections called Pilkada; about 150 million voters got the chance to pick 171 governors, regents and mayors. It was ignored by ‘The World’.then and the following night.

Psephologists labeled Pilkada’s results a bellwether for next year’s presidential election. This is likely to be a rematch between the moderate civilian incumbent Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo, 57, and tough guy Prabowo Subianto, 66.  He’s a retired general, alleged human rights abuser and relic from last century when his dictator father-in-law Soeharto ruled for 32 years. 

Alarmists worried about an eruption of racial and religious hate during the poll, especially after East Java church bombings the previous month. 

Instead all ran peacefully with early results showing the electorate is getting smarter and Indonesia’s teenage democracy taking a firmer grip.  

Indonesian politics are so knotty they make unraveling Australian Senate tangles as easy as tying a clove hitch.  Candidates move around parties like diplomats at Christmas, bemusing Indonesian electors and befogging outsiders.

When The Jakarta Post frontpaged Wednesday’s results Jokowi gains, PDI-P loses it was like saying ‘Turnbull backers won, Liberal candidates lost’.  

The Partai Demokrasi Indonesia Perjuangan (Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle) is Jokowi’s party, but the real leader is Megawati Soekarnoputri, 71, daughter of founding president Soekarno and herself a former president. She really wants her daughter Puan Maharani in the Palace.

These difficulties should not have stopped The World recruiting an academic expert from Indonesia or Australia to explain the importance of Pilkada and interpret results. Much of Indonesia’s media is owned by political partisans, so factual news and impartial analysis from outside the Republic is critical for locals and foreigners.

Overall the Komisi Pemilihan Umum  (KPU - General Elections Commission) appears to have done well, opening booths from 7 am to I pm in thousands of locations - often closing streets to traffic for easy pedestrian access. Making the day a national holiday helped boost participation as voting is not compulsory. 

Electors chose by punching a hole in the voting slip; officials at the counts held up punctured papers to show scrutineers that all is open. There were a few reports of funny business, but nothing serious. 

Candidates have been plastering the country with banners and posters. Policies seldom featured, just touched-up portraits of hopefuls in regional or religious dress, and the same cliche slogans we get in the West. Officials ripped down all signs before the vote,

Figures are still being tallied. The official result will be announced on 9 July

While Australians are familiar with the names of many American and European politicians who feature regularly in the media, they know little of Indonesian public figures.  One candidate who could be heading for international notice is former Bandung (West Java) mayor Ridwan Kamil, 46, a cosmopolitan US-educated architect with a can-do reputation.  He’s leading in the West Java Governorship and is tipped as a future presidential candidate.

Indonesia ranks 96 on Transparency International’s corruption perception index; clean NZ tops the 180 nations measured, while Australia is number 13. Politicians are among the worst offenders.  In East Java, Malang mayor Mochamad Anton campaigned for re-election from prison where he’s being held on charges of allegedly plundering contractors’ budgets.  He lost.

Politics in the world’s third largest democracy is big business, according to Indonesian academic Muhammad Beni Saputra. In The Diplomat he wrote:

‘To become a village head it costs 130-150 million rupiahs; becoming a member of the People’s  Representative Council (DPR) costs 1.18 to 4.6 billion rupiahs, a mayor is from 20-30 billion  rupiahs, a regent is 75 billion rupiahs, a governor ranges from 100 to 400 billion rupiahs, and  president costs up to 7 trillion rupiahs!’  

(One Australian dollar buys just over Rp 10,000. The average income is under Rp 50 million a year.)

Apart from rallies and advertising costs, much is alleged to go on goodies for fans, though the increasingly effective Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi (KPK - Anti-Corruption Commission) has been cracking down on handouts and kickbacks. Unlike previous campaigns T-shirts featuring candidates’ mug shots have been hard to find.

The next biggie will be the 17 April 2019 general election for the DPR and president. Unlike Australia, voters get to select the pres for a five-year stint - two terms maximum. 

In the past scores of parties mushroomed causing chaos; now only those with at least 20 per cent of seats in the legislature, or 25 per cent of votes at the 2014 election, can field candidates. Coalitions are allowed to help make up the numbers, which leads to some strange pairings

Maybe then Australia Plus (soon to be rebadged as ABC Australia) will take what’s happening next door seriously.

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First published in Pearls and Irritations, 30 June 2018
http://johnmenadue.com/duncan-graham-our-failing-media-again-ignoring-an-election-next-door

INDONESIA'S ELECTION CAMPAIGN

Out, damned spot!    

                                                

It’s almost Macbeth:  The ghosts of three past presidents haunting a campaign to elect a new top man. Soekarno, Soeharto and Gus Dur (left) smile spookily on banners above the faces of candidates in the Indonesian election, hinting of a return to glories past should electors pick those claiming to have been endorsed by the dead.

Yet around a third of the 186 million strong electorate never lived as adults under the rule of these men. About 22 million are ballot box virgins.

Most electioneering consists of rent-a-crowd rallies, and convoys of motorbike hoons gunning their engines and blocking streets. If you haven’t collected a few goodie bags with a T-shirt, blob of rice and a chilli, then you haven’t been near a town square or sports stadium.

Some TV programmes are doing fine work with talk shows and robust interviewing.  The problem is that their stations belong to candidates whose code of ethics does not include separating news from partisan propaganda.

Another phantom also lurks, though more poltergeist than wraith, detected only though shifting images: Camouflage gear, flag ceremonies, berets and heavy boots, jeeps and thrusting fists,  ‘strength’ and ‘power’ snarled into microphones.

The military (TNI) has always had a role in Indonesian politics.  Its golden years started in 1965 with the ousting of first president Soekarno and the installation of General Soeharto who controlled the world’s biggest Islamic nation with an iron grip for 32 years.

Every five years the kleptocrat ran the marvellously Orwellian ‘Festival of Democracy’ with results as predictable as elections for Kim Jong-un.  Some approved opposition was allowed, but public servants and their families had no choice. Ballot boxes were in government offices.

Soeharto was swept away in 1998 by a wave of demos for democracy and a drowning economy.  Rash commentators proclaimed the death of Orde Baru (New Order), the general’s authoritarian administration.

Wrong.  The old gang whipped off their fatigues, dashed to 24-hour turnaround tailors for Western suits, Islamic sarongs and nationalistic peci (the rimless black cap), then claimed to have been closet democrats all along.

Prabowo Subianto, 62, leader of the Gerindra Party plans to nationalise foreign firms if he wins power.  This has investors trembling but crowds delighted.  Let’s bore it up the West – who cares about the fallout?

Prabowo was once Soeharto’s son in law and chief of the army’s special forces, Kopassus.   He’s on a US visa black list for alleged abuses of human rights during the chaos surrounding the fall of Soeharto.

Wiranto, 67, commander of the Indonesian military at the time, also has a murky past. He’s seeking high office as head of the Gerindra Party, his second tilt at being boss. The TV ads of both men feature kindly souls helping the wee folk, but special effects can’t hide their raw rule-by-fear agendas.

Current president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, constitutionally barred from seeking a third five-year term, was also a general.  It’s a fact conveniently ignored by Western Nelsons, praising his handling of the economy while failing to see his failures to stem religious conflict.

Golkar, the political vehicle of Soeharto, has put up business tycoon Aburizal Bakrie, 68, as its presidential candidate. The Bakrie companies made their wealth during the Soeharto era.

The parties are colour coded which made sense when the electorate was politically illiterate.  That’s no longer true; the masses are now better educated and the press the most free in Asia.  The old days when people talked about voting merah (red, the PDI-P color) or kuning (yellow) for Golkar seem to have gone.

Parliamentary elections will be on 9 April, the direct election of the president on 9 July.  Voting is not compulsory

As other journalists have noted, there are multiple reasons not to vote for Joko Widodo, 52, better known as Jokowi, and currently the man most likely. 

The governor of Jakarta was handpicked by PDI-P chairwoman, Megawati Soekarnoputri, Indonesia’s fifth president (2001-4) and the daughter of first president Soekarno.  She wanted to try her hand again to keep the dynasty alive, but was persuaded otherwise by pragmatists who know the Bob Dylan lyrics: The times, they are a’changin.

Jokowi (below) has no experience outside local government politics and no record in high finance, though he became a millionaire through exporting furniture. He’s an unknown in international affairs, but in this campaign, so what?

 He’s a humble, quietly spoken Javanese, a mainstream Muslim who seeks to avoid conflict, and a graduate in forestry. So far he hasn’t featured in any corruption scandals, a rare achievement in a nation where too many believe that graft is good.

Like the other candidates he has no clear policies and will pull votes on the strength of his good guy personality and record as a can-do governor.  However this is more myth than fact as the man has only held office for 18 months.

The one standout reason to vote for him is that he’s not one of them.  He has no military or Soeharto crony stains.  He seems genuinely at ease with the poor, who are many, without being paternalistic.

His older mega-rich opponents shout and strut – Prabowo rode a horse around a stadium rally in a Putin-like stunt – and shamelessly display their wealth and born-to-rule arrogance.

These are early days.  There’s been violence in Aceh and crude attempts in Java to disrupt a PDI-P rally.  Indonesians now have a fearless sense of political cynicism.  Malicious manipulation worked in the past. Not now.

Dark talk hints of ensuring Jokowi is emasculated by imposing a general as his running mate, or an older figure who’d dominate because Javanese respect age. Megawati is likely to remain influential.

If Jokowi gets up and stays his own man it will truly be a break with the past. Whether he can energise the slothful bureaucracy, quell sectarian strife, repair the clanking infrastructure and lift the economy are other questions.

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