If there is one thing that I am grateful about the whole Pansus brouhaha is that it has put the spotlight on one of the most (previously) underrated state official: Sri Mulyani Indrawati.
Only after she was put under constant pressure from almost every political corner, even that of, in fact, especially that of her boss’ political allies, that the scale of her integrity was truly revealed to the Indonesian public. Few would blame her for opting the Managing Director position in the World Bank Group as the place she could make the most effective contribution. As she has stated herself ever so graciously in her quasi-political speech, “My contribution as a public official is no longer wanted in the current political system.”
When will our political system be ready, then, to allow public officials of her caliber in pushing for reforms widely and successfully?
Out of faith, I believe that time will come. But not in 2014. Which is why Sri Mulyani will not be President, or will not make an effective President by then.
She or other iron-fisted reformists will only be able to fully flourish in an adult democracy. After two presidential and legislative elections, our democracy made its way out from childhood. But looking at Senayan, you get the feeling that we still have a long way to go before graduating teenage years.
As long as the New Order generation still dominates how politics is run in Indonesia, I am skeptical that we will make a significant breakthrough in reforming our country. It takes a generational shift to produce a conducive political environment for reformists like Sri Mulyani to effectively push their agenda. One election cycle won’t do it.
Another reason why she is unable to move forward with her reform agenda is because she is a lone wolf. If the reform agenda is to be sustainable, other reform-minded incorruptible figures must step up to the plate and commit themselves to the cause. It is both foolish and counter-productive to expect one Sri Mulyani to sustain the reform agenda alone.
If change is to materialize, there needs to be enough people who demand it and fight for it. Currently, that is simply not the case in the government and in the parliament – there is not enough iron men/ladies. It takes time for one Sri Mulyani to grow in such a prominent cabinet post. It will take a while for similar figures to fill in prominent legislative and executive positions. One election cycle won’t do it.
Last, but not least, even if Sri Mulyani is to become President in 2014, either she will affiliate herself with political parties or run as an independent candidate.
The problem with the first scenario is that one of her main strengths – and public appeal – has always been her independence from any political madness that has defined our democracy so far. She is above politics and she is unlikely to be interested in stepping down to join the noise where common sense is rare. Sri Mulyani is first and foremost a technocrat, not a politician.
That leaves us with the second scenario. Is our country ready for an independent candidate? Probably. But an independent President? Unlikely. In Indonesia, people vote on the figure instead of the party so there is every possibility that her high public support can be translated into votes. However, one must wonder how would her government handle resistance from all sides without any, let alone solid, political support in the parliament. If the Century debacle teaches us anything it’s that reformist technocrats don’t last very long in a self-interest political climate. Moreover, it is naïve to expect that by 2014 our parliament will be filled with reformists who is more than happy to support any reform agendas.
To sustain a true reformist government, especially one that is led by a technocrat, the political climate must be transformed first. And that will take time. One election cycle won’t do it.
Besides, Sri Mulyani said it herself to a number of foreign correspondents. “I have absolutely no aspirations for the presidency. In 2014.”
So, what’s next?
Sri Mulyani had enough with the heat, so she left the kitchen – with style. Concerned Indonesian citizens now have a huge task in front of them. But our task is bigger than simply getting Sri Mulyani to office in 2014 or 2019 or whenever she chooses to run, if ever.
If Obama is a symbol of hope for America and the rest of the world, then Sri Mulyani is our beacon of optimism. And both Obama and Sri Mulyani insisted that this is not about them. They know that it’s much, much bigger than them. It’s about us. This is about perfecting our union, and that is a burden and responsibility that we all share.
In the immediate future, we need to demand and support the Agus Martowardojo-Anny Ratnawati duet to continue the reform agenda Sri Mulyani championed so fiercely in the Ministry of Finance. In the long run, we must uphold the values that Sri Mulyani stands for: integrity, honesty, and accountability – values that exist in the hearts of anyone who wishes to realize progress in Indonesia.
We must start the work in creating the environment that allows reformists like her flourish. We must penetrate the toxic system from the inside and get as many incorruptible figures as possible into the parliament and the government. We need to make petty grievances and take-all-give-none politics a thing of the past. We need to renew one of the ideals that have found this great nation: a democracy guided by the inner wisdom in the unanimity arising out of deliberations amongst representatives. We need to start the work in making sure that our representatives truly represent the people.
We need to earn the leaders we yearn for.
Perfecting our union is never a simple task. True progress may not be achieved in one election cycle, one lifetime or even in one generation. But the most important thing is that we start and continue our work.
When Emil Salim – one of the nation’s greatest servants who happens to be my granduncle, whom I am extremely proud of – was asked “How are you?” by Peter Gontha in the latter’s TV show, Opa Emil replied, “Always on the move.”
Why ‘always on the move’?
“Because the challenges that this country face are so enormous, many and dynamic that we have to be always on the move in confronting them,” he answered.
My fellow Indonesians, let us always be on the move in perfecting our union.
