Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy

Multiparty cooperation strengthened

An intensive programme with the Indonesian political parties (monthly in-house discussions as well as public meetings) combined with a visit of the seven Dutch political parties to their Indonesian counterparts, were first steps in the process of institutionalizing the political dialogue in Indonesia. First steps towards an agenda of national reform were taken during these monthly in-house discussions between the seven Indonesian political parties. Regarding the visit of the Dutch politicians to Indonesia, it is worth mentioning that during a time of international strains as a result of the Fitna movie, the visit had a positive impact on anchoring the political dialogue and removed seeds of potential distrust towards Dutch politics or NIMD.  

Enhanced relations between Dutch and Indonesian political parties

The Indonesian parties highly appreciated the visit of the seven Dutch politicians. The Indonesian politicians involved in the dialogue have indicated from the beginning that they were interested in a long term political exchange with the Dutch political parties. In particular, the Indonesian parties and chairs felt that they are taken seriously on an equal basis and this could be the start of mutual exchanges. The visit sent a clear signal to the Indonesian party chairs that NIMD is serious in its commitment to the Indonesian political parties and is interested in a long term commitment. This seems to constitute a firm basis for further development of the relationship between the Indonesian and Dutch political parties.


Debate on laws on political parties and elections

The political bills mentioned above were also topics of debate during the closed in-house meetings throughout 2008. Given the tender age of the political dialogue and the sensitivities surrounding topics such as independent political candidates, the threshold and the semi-open list system, consensus on these issues proved to be too ambitious to attain in the first year of dialogue sessions. Rather, the political dialogue was used to gain the trust of the political parties. Anchoring the dialogue was considered a more important precondition to attain in a fidgety pre-election year. A more profound and systematic debate on national reform issues has proven to take up considerably more time than anticipated and will be scheduled after the 2009 elections. It was quite encouraging to see that the parties did discuss some contentious issues without becoming disagreeable.


Description of the budget used for programme specific objective 1, and justification of the differences between the budget and the actual expenditure. To be finalised


Strategic alliances between political and civil society strengthened

Through the democracy schools that are established in five regions, as well as their spin-offs the Community Committees, the programme works towards a strengthening of the ties between political and civil society. As we can see in the results listed below, the relationships between the two have become closer, gradually working towards strategic alliances between the two sectors.  


Increased political activity of young Indonesians

In the course of 2008, 28% of Sekolah Demokrasi (Democracy School - SD) alumni decided to run in the 2009 parliamentary elections at the regional or district level, which is a tangible indicator of increased political activity of democracy school participants. Some of these alumni come from political parties, yet a large majority comes from civil society or other organisations and was not involved in politics previously. Furthermore, large parts of the members of the Community Committees became members of political parties. Yet alumni also demonstrate their increased involvement in politics in other ways. To give one example, late 2008 the alumni of the democracy school in Malang presented a list with their contact details to the Bupati (head of sub-district), accompanied by a letter pledging to work more closely together with the local Parliament. The gesture was well received by the Bupati, who expressed willingness to make use of this pool of alumni. The schools also directly aim at increasing the political skills of women, since on average 33% of the school participants are female. Although figures keep shifting because the candidate lists were not finalized at the end of 2008, there is a considerable number of female political candidates among the new political contenders.  


Closer relationships between political & civil society

Normalizing the relationship between political and civil society is an important part of the school curriculum itself. Throughout the year, students are required to organize a variety of activities that involve political and civil society, which in its turn positively impacts on both these sectors. For example, students organize public hearings in local parliament, organize talk shows between political and civil society, write articles in regional papers and so forth. Within the Indonesian context, where civil and political society steered clear from one another during and after the Suharto era, bringing the political and civil pillars together on a regular basis is a novelty.  

Another part of the programme also works on the same issues, the Community Committees (Komite Komunitas, KK) , the alumni organizations in the five regions that act as brokers between political and civil society. The alumni meet in this forum on a regular basis, which provides them with a platform to engage in post-graduate activities. The KKs are working to become successful intermediaries between civil and political society and to ease tensions between the two. Here the Community Committee in Lembata can be mentioned, which has thus far successfully interfered in a conflict about an (undemocratically negotiated) mining project that endangered the property and livelihoods of more than 20.000 inhabitants. Through mediation with local NGO activists, politicians, citizens and other stakeholders, the project has been postponed for an indefinite period of time. Given the very antagonistic relationship between civil and political society in Lembata, the peaceful resolution of the conflict is a significant accomplishment: The Community Committee prevented public outrage against the local administration, got all parties around the table and mediated successfully. It can serve as an example of lessened polarization between civil and political society and an increased inclination on both sides to cooperate


Increased citizens support for democracy

The democracy schools and community committees are increasingly known at the district level and there are signs that the general public appreciates the schools. An important test will be the 2009 elections to see how high alumni that are running for candidacy will end on the local lists and if the voters will reward these candidates in the ballot box. A number of candidates stand a good chance in the elections. The number one candidate for Partai Demokrat in district Banyuasin (South Sumatra) is a well-known SD graduate, which indicates that the leverage of SD alumni is expanding. Once chosen, these new politicians can in their turn start to broaden the support for democracy by adhering to democratic principles and clean governance, which in the long run will positively impact on the appreciation of democracy by the general public. Apart from this development, the activities carried out by the community committees aim at achieving a ripple effect in local society, engaging civil actors, political society and the general public in discussions on (often contentious) political topics and to promote universal democratic values.  


Increased public awareness of people's rights and participation in political processes

Although the increased awareness of people’s rights still needs to be assessed systematically in the five regions, there are already some clear examples that indicate that the public is becoming more aware of its rights and democratic values. The Community Committee in Malang, for example, is working with local rice farmers on concrete socio-economic concerns and educated the farmers about their rights, how to get a fair price for their produce and how the government can assist them - in sum to improve their situation within and by making use of the possibilities within the local democracy. Second, there is a ripple effect in larger parts of local society. Combined with the activities carried out by alumni and those attending the democracy school, the general public of the specific locality is widely reached. In Lembata, a local democracy radio network was set-up that broadcasts across the island. In Malang a local television station, Batu TV, reaches a considerable part of East Java.

Every month debates about democracy between government officials, SD students and civil society representatives are organized. Also various books on democracy are published by the local implementing agency. In other districts similar initiatives are being implemented or developed. Furthermore, the activities of the community committees involve large parts of local society and all relevant stakeholders to discuss pertinent political issues, through which the local citizens are actively included to participate in local decision-making and political processes. For example, in some districts government officials now publicly account for their local budget to the people with the help of the democracy schools and community committees, which is a novelty in Indonesia.