Indonesia ‘moving in the right direction’

Thursday, 19 August 2010

The Jakarta Post

Indonesia has been moving in the right direction in terms of democracy, although there are concerns society has not made parallel progress in the democratization, says an Indonesia enthusiast from Australia.

Twenty-three Indonesian enthusiasts from 15 countries were invited to Jakarta as part of the Presidential Friends of Indonesia (PFoI) group.

The group met with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last night in an official reception and earlier visited the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce, University of Indonesia, the Foreign and Industry Ministry and an Islamic boarding school.

James Haire, a professor with Charles Sturt University of Australia, said Wednesday that democratization featured prominently in the discussion with the President and Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa during their meeting.

He praised Indonesia for making significant progress in democracy in such a short time, although acknowledged that violence against religious minorities in recent years had tainted the country’s democratic image.

Religious minorities have come under attack from groups complaining about religions other than the majority Islam being practiced in their neighborhoods, leading to the government ordering certain minority groups to close their schools and houses of worship to avoid conflict.

Some local experts have voiced their concerns that democracy had been interpreted as the right of the majority to impose their will on the minority, even through violence.

Instances of religious violence have been on the rise in recent years with some placing the blame on the government, which they say has not taken adequate steps to protect minorities.

Haire said pressure on minority groups should be dealt with and he said he believed the government was working toward solving it.

“I see serious attempts made by the government to find ways out of this problem,” said Haire.

“An enormous amount has been achieved through democracy and the government will work to sort out these problems.”

Haire said society needed to become more empowered to support the continuity of democracy.

The PFoI program this year invited Indonesian enthusiasts from, to name a few, The Australian National University, Lake Forest College and Pomona College in the US and Chonbuk National University in South Korea.

In a press release, the Foreign Ministry said the Presidential Friends of Indonesia could become ambassadors to present Indonesia to the world.

“The program also aims to increase people to people contacts.”The program was initiated in 2008 with 67 Indonesia enthusiasts having taken part since then.