著者

黒柳 米司

出版者

東京大学大学院総合文化研究科附属アメリカ太平洋地域研究センター

雑誌

アメリカ太平洋研究 (ISSN:13462989)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.1, pp.157-171, 2001-03

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Only one year after his globally-appreciated inauguration, President Abdurrahman been besieged by the hostile forces both in the parliament as well as on the streets. It was those same forces that hailed Wahid as the President of Indonesia in October 1999. The inter-national reputation of the President Wahid also waned to the critical extent that even the reevaluation of the stabilizing role of the Indonesian military becomes arguable, that was diametrically opposite to the political atmosphere in the wake of the downfall of the ex-President Soeharto. What made those radical changes take place? Gus Dur, as Wahid is widelly called, has been criticised for failures in three major tasks: promoting democratization, economic rehabilitation, and pacifying restive regions. His poor performance contravenes his overtly adamant attitudes toward increasingly antagonistic MPs, who issued the first memorandum of censure to the President in February 2001. Ironically enough, while there is no reason to doubt Gus Dur's commitment to democracy and reformasi, he is undeniably autocratic in his modus operandi. The trend of globalization or, to be more concrete, global pressures - influences those Indonesian developments in two ways. On the one hand, it may provide the democratic enthusiasts with incentives for as well as models of democratization. Internet technologies, among others, helps democratic NGOs in an unprecedented manner, for them to make their appeals heeded and find a trusty shield from possible sanctions by the regime. On the other hand, it may backfire by instigating nationalistic repercussions to external pressures perceived by the locals - both government and populace as biased and illegitimate interference. As a matter of fact, global standards, rather often than not, used to represent the views and values of the Western, developed nations which the developing nations, specially in Asia, are skeptical of and resentful of as well. he government of President Abdurrahman Wahid could be dubbed as a 'mezzanine regime'in the sense that it could climb up the stairs leading to a fully democratic Indonesia on he one hand, or descend downward to an autocratic military regime on the other. The international community, therefore, should not take democratization in Wahid's Indonesia for ranted. While the former President Soeharto has politically deceased, those pro-Soeharto elements are far from extinguished from positions of power in central and local governments. hey could make use of anti-Wahid momentum - both local and global - as an excuse to make a come-back.