Culture of competition

A fresh wind of change is blowing softly across Indonesia’s political spectrum. The recent direct elections for regent and deputy regent in Tangerang and the gubernatorial elections in West Java proved that politics are no longer dominated by the big powerful parties or a handful of incumbents. Rano Karno and Dede Yusuf, both celebrities, stole the limelight from the sunset incumbents when they won the election for deputy regent and deputy governor. Incumbent former governor of West Danny Setiawan (65) and Agum Gumelar (63), a highly respected and well decorated elite forces retired general who were expected to win the votes failed to convince people to vote for them. Sukardi Rinakit, a young political analyst and a fierce but subtle critic of the government launched his book Gusti Ora Sare (in Javanese, God Never Sleeps) which is a collection of his thoughts, analysis and political arguments, dug deep into attitude, character, ethics and morality side in Indonesian politics. He pointed out that the political cycle and activities will face a dead end when it comes to bumping into the attitude of the new voters. People are now digging the potentials they have in their self to create a “culture of competition.” This proved that the old values in the melodramatic character of the Indonesian people are beginning to fade away. They are fed up with the old and same faces of people running for top government jobs and the powerful political parties which to date failed to improve the economic condition and welfare of the people. In this context, God never sleeps. Indonesia is blessed with a powerful economic machine but the problem is that the government is sleeping. The regional elections (pilkada) are overshadowed by political practices of the old regimes called Politik Mataraman (political orientation to the Javanese cosmology). The current pilkada is often dominated by those who have been in politics during the New Order which is artificial and not substancial. The pilkadas which are dominated by incumbents are in fact slowing the real democratic process.