Politics Putting Off Nation’s Youth, With Many Blaming Rampant Graft

Politics Putting Off Nation’s Youth, With Many Blaming Rampant Graft

Talk of the 2014 elections has been heating up over the past few months, but most of the country’s Muslim youth don’t seem to have taken much notice.

“I have no interest in getting involved in Indonesian politics because once a person becomes a politician, they become selfish and work only for their own interests. They forget their promises to the society,” said Syaiful Huda, a 23-year-old student from Yogyakarta’s Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University.

His response echoes the results of a recent survey among almost 1,500 Indonesian Muslims aged 15-25 carried out by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) along with the Goethe Institute and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty.

Only 28.6 percent said they were interested in politics, only 16.1 percent of those eligible to vote have participated in every election and 48 percent dismiss politics as boring.

Maya Larasati, 23, from Atma Jaya University in Yogyakarta, feels the same way as Syaiful.

“I believe that I would never be able to win as a clean representative, so if I have a social mission, I would rather implement it outside our political system because our political system is so corrupt,” she said.

Jerry Sambuaga, a 25-year-old member of the Golkar Party and adviser to the speaker of the Regional Representatives Council, wasn’t surprised by the results.

However, he said that the only way to change the system was by getting involved.

“What we need to understand is that politics is part of our daily life and politics is a form of devotion especially when it comes to fighting for the public interest,” he said.

Furthermore, Jerry, who started becoming active in politics at the age of 17, said the liberalization of Indonesian politics had provided young people and women a lot more options to be heard.

Burhanuddin Muhtadi, a senior researcher at the LSI, told reporters on Tuesday that the younger generation had no interest in politics because there are just too many political problems, including graft, that needed to be fixed.

“It is very dangerous that we have young people who are not interested in politics as they are the future generation of Indonesia,” Burhanuddin said.

“If they are not interested, who will continue to rule this country?” he said.

“Therefore, it is very important that our politicians change their ways to bring about a better political system that can be interesting for our young generation.”

The researcher also said that there were ways out of the predicament.

“The simplest way is by improving political parties’ performance,” he said.

“[If we fix] the funding system, politicians would not be trapped in a vicious circle of corruption — and we all know that corruption has been playing a major role in making young people feel sick and tired of the Indonesian political system,” he said.

Court Chief Mahfud M.D. Scoops Award

Court Chief Mahfud M.D. Scoops Award

Constitutional Court Chief Justice Mahfud M.D. was on Tuesday night selected by RCTI’s Seputar Indonesia news program as its inaugural newsmaker of the year. 

“I’m glad. It means the public has acknowledged what I’ve been doing,” Mahfud told the Jakarta Globe after the awards ceremony. 

“The awards were decided by upstanding juries, and the results were also presented to the public to confirm.” 

Mahfud said he believed he was selected not because of his personal achievements, but more because of the good work done by the Constitutional Court. 

“It is because I often speak for the Constitutional Court that I was chosen for this award,” he said. 

The two other nominees for newsmaker of the year were US President Barack Obama and former Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati. 

“At first, I had to laugh because I was nominated alongside Obama. As for Sri Mulyani, I understand because we’re both Indonesians,” Mahfud said. “But then I saw that the context was for impact on news coverage in Indonesia that brought about change. Obama might be a prominent international figure, but not regarding Indonesian problems.” 

Taufik Kiemas, chairman of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR), was recognized as the “true representative of the people.” 

Tama Satrya Langkun, a researcher from Indonesia Corruption Watch who was brutalized by unidentified attackers last year over his investigations into police corruption, was named the young newsmaker of the year. 

Chris John, the country’s most successful boxer, meanwhile, was named best sportsman and Yohanes Surya, a leading physicist and prominent education advocate, was recognized for his social work. 

Rosihan Anwar, a veteran journalist who died from heart failure last month, was awarded the Special Tribune. 

Susno Duadji, the former National Police chief detective turned corruption whistle-blower turned graft convict, was named most controversial newsmaker. 

First Brig. Norman Kamaru, the Mobile Brigade officer who shot to fame after a video of him lip-syncing and dancing to a Bollywood song went viral on the Internet, was named most entertaining newsmaker. 

Arief Suditomo, editor in chief for news programming at privately owned broadcaster RCTI, said the awards were decided based on how much influence people had on the news between May 2010 and May 2011. 

“This is the first time the Seputar Indonesia RCTI Awards have been held, and RCTI has been around for nearly 22 years,” he said. “We thought that it was time to show our appreciation to our sources for their contribution to our news production.” 

Yunarto Wijaya, an analyst from political research company Charta Politika, said the awards were commendable. 

“They could be used as a tool to help educate people about politics, although it’s true that this kind of event is actually pop culture,” he said. 

These kind of awards, he added, would hopefully encourage lawmakers and government officials to develop better public communication skills.

Jilted PKS Founder Wants Day In Court

Jilted PKS Founder Wants Day In Court

Prosperous Justice Party co-founder Yusuf Supendi said on Monday that he was ready to take the party’s leaders to court over his controversial dismissal.

In a case that has become another distraction for a party that has recently reeled from one controversy to another, Yusuf has refused to accept his dismissal, saying he had never received official notification.

Yusuf helped establish the Justice Party in 1998, which later became the PKS.

“On November 28, 2010, four people from the PKS, including [deputy chairman] Triwisaksana, visited me at 8:20 p.m. to show me the dismissal letter, dated October 29, 2009, and addressed to me,” Yusuf said.

But he said he had never received a copy of the letter.

He also said he did not read the letter in 2010 because it was not given to him according to party guidelines.

“I do not know why they wanted to kick me out, because I did not read the letter,” he said. “But I think it is because I am too critical of the consultative body.”

Dani Saliswijaya, Yusuf’s lawyer, said they would take the case to court after an attempt to meet party leaders was rebuffed.

He said Yusuf would sue 11 PKS leaders, including Hilmi Aminuddin, the head of the PKS’s consultative body; Surahman Hidayat, the head of the PKS’s Shariah Council; party president Luthfi Hasan Ishaq; Anis Matta, PKS secretary general; Communication Minister Tifatul Sembiring; and Social Affairs Minister Salim Segaf.

Dani said the suit would be filed with the South Jakarta District Court on Thursday and that Yusuf would seek Rp 37 billion ($4.3 million) in compensation.

The lawyer added that four nongovernmental organizations were also planning to report the PKS to the Constitutional Court demanding its dissolution, but he did not say on what grounds.

“I do not want to name who they are yet. But they have evidence to report,” he said.

He added that Yusuf would bring a separate complaint to the Constitutional Court.

Yusuf said the PKS had strayed from its original mission. “Instead of preaching to spread values, the PKS now preaches to look for positions in the House,” he said.

Mustafa Kamal, the head of the PKS in the House of Representatives, said the party would follow all legal procedures related to the case but that Yusuf’s charges were baseless.

A PKS legislator, Arifinto, was recently caught in the House looking at a pornographic video on his tablet computer.

Anis Matta was last month implicated in a sex-video scandal that the police later cleared him of.

The Big 7 In Political Moving, Shaking

The Big 7 In Political Moving, Shaking

Charta Politika on Wednesday presented awards to seven people considered to be the most influential of the past year in the sphere of politics.

According to Luvie Triadi, Charta Politika’s director, the winners were chosen after the political research institute monitored six Indonesian newspapers and more than 10,000 articles to analyze how much they influenced the media in 2010.

Burhanuddin Muhtadi, a senior researcher from the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI), was awarded most influential political activist.

Alex Noerdin, the governor of South Sumatra, was awarded most covered regional chief for his role in securing the 26th SEA Games for the province.

Golkar Party’s Priyo Budi Santoso was recognized as the most noted politician from the ruling coalition for his comments on the Bank Century case.

Pramono Anung, from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), was awarded for his role as an opposition lawmaker in driving the discourse on the bill reviewing Yogyakarta’s special status.

Gamawan Fauzi, the minister of home affairs, was judged the most quoted minister, while Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra Hamzah, deputies from the Corruption Eradication Commission, were recognized for the attention their extensive legal battles drew.

Former Vice President Jusuf Kalla received a lifetime achievement award for his contributions over the years to driving the political debate.

The former Golkar chairman said the relationship between politicians and the media was very much give and take.

“The media plays a big role in informing the government. I’ve never shied away from meeting journalists because they help put us in touch with the public so we can build trust,” he said.

This is the second time Charta Politika has staged the awards.

Women’s Activist Gives ‘Posturing’ Female Politicians a Dressing Down

Women’s Activist Gives ‘Posturing’ Female Politicians a Dressing Down

Female legislators and regional heads are failing to use their positions to promote gender equality, a women’s rights activist said on Tuesday.

Dwi Windyastuti, a researcher from Surabaya’s Airlangga University, said most Indonesian women tended to enter politics simply to enhance their social standing rather than champion women’s causes.

“Affluent businesswomen are more likely than other women to enter politics, which is due to the high cost of vying for public office, particularly a position as regional head,” she said.

“As a consequence, their motivation for getting into politics is more about gaining personal prestige than about improving social standards through a gender-based perspective.”

She added women in politics tended to emulate their male peers by prioritizing position and power over all else.

“Once these women get their positions, they forget that they’re meant to represent the country’s women,” Dwi said.

“They forget that they should be fighting for gender equality by addressing domestic violence, championing reproductive health awareness and ending human trafficking.”

Meanwhile, a 2010 UN Development Program Indonesia report points out that only 17.32 percent of seats at the House of Representatives (DPR) are occupied by women, up from 11.8 percent prior to the 2009 elections.

The report said there is only one woman among the country’s 33 governors — Ratu Atut Chosiyah of Banten province — along with 38 female district heads and five female ministers.

Angelina Sondakh, a House legislator and deputy secretary general of the ruling Democratic Party, said that while they remain outnumbered by men in politics, women are now increasingly taking up more important positions.

“In the past, you’d rarely see women serve in strategic positions, but now [female legislators’ roles] are improving,” she said.

She added that political parties should not only be concerned about meeting the quota to assign 30 percent of their House seats to women, they should also give them key positions in the party and the House.

However, Eva Kusuma Sundari, from the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said that “We still have a long way to go if female politicians are to play a role as agents of change.”