Lecture of Prof. Dr. Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie, former president of Indonesia
“I am going to talk about how to transform peacefully a nation of 247 million people from an authoritarian system into a democracy within 517 days,“ said Dr. Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie at the opening of his speech on June 30, 2011, at the German Council on Foreign Relations.
Accelerated evolution instead of revolution
“I disapprove of revolutions like in Egypt or Tunesia,“ Habibie continued. “Revolutions are expensive, carry great risks, and demand many innocent victims.“ Instead, a “systematically accelerated evolution“ that adapts to the situation of a country would be better. In order to reform a nation successfully, the following factors are important: high quality, low costs, predictability, and acting consistently.
After taking over the presidency during the Asia crisis, Habibie found himself confronted with huge problems: An inflation rate of 78 percent, the flight of capital, a high unemployment rate, and the fact that Indonesia consists of more than 500 different ethnic groups living on 16,000 islands. “At that time, I established more than 600 laws on the introduction of democracy and a market economy, this means 1.3 laws per day.“ These laws include the legal guarantee of press and religious freedom, the separation of the command structure between the police and the army, the reenforcement of the banking sector’s supervision, as well as the establishment of an independant central bank and constitutional jurisdiction. As a result, inflation decreased to 2 percent and the economy was boosted.
Clear separation between religion and politics
“At first I released the political prisoners such as trade union leaders. Of course they used the first opportunity to demonstrate against me.“ However, this is part of democracy and has to be accepted by the government. According to Habibie, a free press is equally important as a “measure instrument“ in order to find out whether the government works well or not. In addition, Habibie advocates a clear separation between religion and politics. “Islam is a religion which offers possible answers to the question about a human being’s path after death, just like all religions in the world.“ Nevertheless, as far as the time before death is concerned, people should take their lives in their hands and make things happen instead of focusing too much on religious enlightenment.
Furthermore, the West has to differentiate between „Islamic“ and „Islamist,“ urged Habibie, who previously studied and worked as aircraft construction engineer in Germany. The Islamists in Indonesia are a small minority who kill innocent people to attract public attention. “This has nothing to do with Islam.“ To deal with Islamists, Habibie recommends not to muzzle them but to keep an eye on them. In his view, one should give them the opportunity to set up a political party and to stand for democratic elections. “You will see: No one is going to vote for them.“
Synergy between culture, religion, science, and technology as a basis for success
Habibie’s recipe for success in Indonesia is for culture, religion, science, and technology to enter a positive synergy. “Then, people are productive, competitive, and economically invincible.“
For more information, see Dr. Habibie’s book: 517 Days Indonesia: Birth of a Democracy, Herbert Utz Publishing, 24.80 euros.