JAKARTA (IslamOnline) - Facing the backlash of his severe criticism against the leadership of Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid, Amien Rais said on Monday he is afraid democracy had a long way to go in his country.
On Sunday, People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker and Chairman of National Mandate Party (PAN) Amien Rais was banned by the members of Wahid’s party, the Nladhatul Ulama (NU), to set his foot in East Java.
Rais said it was not the ban which bothered him, but the people's unreadiness for democracy, which guarantees disagreement. He was referring to the rally of thousands of people in Pasuruan last Wednesday showing support for Wahid and demanding his and House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tanjung’s resignation.
"It's certainly not easy to become a truly democratic country. It takes not only time, but also adjustment and adaptation. We've been under the restraints of the Old Order and New Order regimes for almost 40 years, and now suddenly we're faced with democracy," Amien said.
He added that people must know that the dispute between himself as MPR Speaker with Wahid is nothing personal nor is it an attempt to topple one another.
Rais said the people trying to keep him out of East Java are thinking like elementary
school children. “Those who have a better understanding of democracy should explain some things to them,” he said.
"Difference of opinion is a must in democratic discourse. As it reaches a critical point, it will show which party has clearer and stronger arguments and are useful for the people," he said.
Any argument, he said, even if it came from the President, should just be dismissed. As for the restrictions on his movements in the country, he added, only the government can impose that.
Wahid joined Rais in condemning any call for movement restrictions on other leaders who are opposed to the President. Wahid said party members should understand that Indonesia is now a democracy and that criticism by others not holding the office of the president should be welcomed.
“This is part of the democratic process. Without it there would be no democracy,” Wahid reportedly said last week. Following Wahid’s statement defending the process of democracy in the country, the NU in East Java lifted its ban on Amien.
East Java is the mainstay of the nation’s largest Muslim organization, the NU, which was led by Wahid for over a decade until a few months after he became Indonesia’s first ever democratically elected president in October 1999.
According to Amien, he is now very concerned about the threat of disintegration which he said is the most important issue to be solved.
"What happened in Aceh and Irian is very sad, we have to find the solution as soon as possible. Learning from Russia and Yugoslavia, it's possible that Indonesia will undergo the same process," said Amien.
That is where all the criticism was directed, he said, so that, as in the case of East Timor, the government will not be too late in handling the issue.
Observers attempting to figure out who could replace the embattled Wahid in case he surrenders his job as President, have ruled out Amien as a potential successor.
They said Amien Rais seems to be a politician without a concrete agenda for the country and even for his own political ambitions. Rais, in his early 50s, used to be a popular leader with the Muhamadiyah group, one of the most influential and powerful Islamic movements in Indonesia.
However, a NU high profile member, Mustofa Bisri, and a close friend to Wahid, said recent political tensions in the country were the result of the Rais’s greed for power.
He said elite politicians should refrain from making conflicting statements and get on with the job that has been given to them.
"They have been attacking each other, ignoring the fact that other people have been the victims of their actions," he said in Semarang.
"They think people are proud to see them attacking each other. People are actually getting bored seeing what they do."
Bisri expressed his support for the planned meeting between the Chairman of the NU Central Board, Hasyim Muzadi, and his Muhammadiyah counterpart, Ahmad Syafii Ma'arif.
Relations between the two largest Islamic organizations have recently deteriorated following Amien's steady criticisms against Wahid, local observers said.
Amien is a former Muhammadiyah chairman, and Whid was head of the NU before he formed his own party, which holds less than 10% of the votes in Parliament.
Amien had called for Wahid to resign or be impeached by the legislators. His comments attracted the ire of NU supporters and caused a rift between the two major Muslim organizations.
"Let us see the development. I call on all political and social forces, religious followers, youths and others to ask themselves one question - whether or not it would be good for the nation’s interest if Abdurrahman Wahid continues [as president]," Rais said.
