Time, dynasty and lust that don’t want to retire

Majid Lintang

In a country where politics often resembles a soap opera stripping rather than modern governance, retirement is apparently not the end of the story. It’s just a commercial break before the old characters reappear with new costumes, new parties, or at least new channels. YouTube new.

It is now Amien Rais’ turn to reactivate the sirens. In his typical style – half sermon, half reprimand from the grandfather of the nation – he asked Joko Widodo to start leaving the national political scene. Not just going down the mountain, but also putting the political hoe in the historical warehouse.

Amien talks about time. About age. About death. About humans who can’t fight God’s wall clock. Al-‘Asr’s letter was also brought to the political stage. A reminder that food, like fried foods at a cafe, will also cool over time.

But Indonesia is indeed a unique country. Here, former presidents often still feel like presidents. The only difference is escorts and official photos in government offices. His influence still flows, his name is still called, his blessing is still sought. Our policy does not yet fully recognize the concept of “retirement”. There is only “still influential with a different format”.

Therefore, Amien’s criticism is not only about Jokowi. This is a question of the character of Indonesian politics, on which it is difficult to deviate from the numbers. We have maintained a culture of cronyism for too long. It’s as if this nation never really believed that the system could work without a certain character standing behind the screen fiddling with the buttons.

Amien also tackled the softest and most sensitive subject: family politics. From Gibran Rakabuming Raka to Bobby Nasution, everyone has been dragged to the criticism table. According to Amien, Jokowi’s support for his children and son-in-law is not a form of affection, but rather an ambition that goes too far.

The most piquant sentence was of course the one where he called Gibran a “plonga-plongo”. Indonesian politics has a strange tradition: criticism is often not enough if it is not seasoned with personal ridicule. As if the argument would be less tasty without a little chili insult.

But this is where the problem gets interesting. Because democracy also means the right of every citizen to participate in politics – including the president’s children, the president’s sons-in-law, and even the president’s grandchildren if they are old enough and have enough advertising capital.

The problem is not with blood ties. The issue is whether or not the political process is fair.

If a presidential child advances through healthy competition, the public has the right to accept or reject him in the election. But if state power opens a political highway, with red carpets and officials suddenly busy smiling, then public opinion has the right to suspect that democracy is transforming into a family empire.

On the other hand, Amien’s political opponents did not remain silent. Many people think that Amien’s criticism of Jokowi seems ironic. They recalled that Amien himself was not a sterile character in relation to family political practices. His son, Mumtaz Rais, has also been a long-time presence on the national political scene. Criticism of Dynasty, they say, is like lecturing on the dangers of sugar while munching on a donut.

Some Jokowi supporters even think Amien is reading too much into Jokowi’s post-presidential political maneuvers. According to them, Jokowi is only exercising his political rights as an ordinary citizen. There is no rule prohibiting a former president from supporting a party, giving political opinions or helping his family’s career.

And it’s true. Democracy does not recognize a social sanction called “no politics after retirement”. As long as it does not violate the law, every citizen has the same right to assemble, associate, support candidates and even create political parties.

The problem is that, in a country with a strong feudal tradition, the influence of former rulers is never truly neutral. Some shadows of power persist even if the sun of power has set.

Today’s public opinion is therefore in reality witnessing a duel between two old political generations: one speaks of the dangers of dynasties, the other speaks of democratic rights. Both had the feeling of saving the republic.

And this republic, as usual, can only sit back and sip a bag of political coffee: too bitter to enjoy, too addictive to give up.

*Writer, senior journalist.