July 20, 2012
Amity and Goodwill for National Peace and Stability
by A. Lin Neumann
One man barely survived an assassination attempt. Another was severely beaten and imprisoned for six years on spurious charges. The third was ousted from power by a military coup and forced into exile because his opponents could not defeat him democratically.
These three men — Jose Ramos-Horta, the former President of Timor Leste; Anwar Ibrahim, the Malaysian Opposition Leader; and Thailand’s former Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra — appeared on the same stage in Jakarta this week for a forum on reconciliation put together by Strategic Review, a quarterly journal of policy and ideas published in Jakarta. It is my pleasure to be associated with Strategic Review and to have had the chance to meet all three of these leaders.
The forum on Tuesday, which was opened with a keynote address by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, made for a stunning photo op of the three invited leaders speaking their minds quite openly during an event that could never happen back home for two of them, Thaksin and Anwar.
Indeed, this was political theatre of a very high order. Having been hauled into court repeatedly on the most spurious of sexual charges, Anwar is looking towards a general election later this year as he tries to unseat the coalition that has governed Malaysia since independence.
The billionaire Thaksin is involved in his own high-stakes gambit. With his sister now Prime Minister, he is betting that he can one day return to Thailand despite the intractable opposition of powerful military and political figures.
But along with Ramos-Horta, these three men all brought a message of
forgiveness to Jakarta. Anwar praised Indonesia for its ability to “not be saddled by the baggage of the past.” He resisted the urge to call for payback and appealed instead for Malaysia to simply allow fair elections as the path to reconciliation.
“I am only able to forgive,” Anwar said from the stage, “and move on. Not necessarily forget, but move on. If you are totally committed to [democracy], you don’t have time for retribution.”
Thaksin spoke of the need for calm in handling the political crisis in his country. “I think we need truth, but the truth must not lead to future conflict,” he said. “We must learn from our past failures, but we also must move on.”
The best example was Ramos-Horta, who has actually done what the other two are so far only talking about. In 2008, while President, he pardoned the men who attacked him.
He noted that after the 1999 independence referendum and the bloody withdrawal of the Indonesian military, he and independence fighter Xanana Gusmao made peace with Indonesia a first priority despite calls for an international tribunal to investigate the crimes committed in Timor Leste. “I said 10 years ago that Indonesians will be the ones who look into their souls and find solutions,” he said, adding that he prefers “restorative justice. Sometimes we have to swallow this desire for retributive justice.”
Outsiders often chafe at the tendency in Southeast Asia to paper over deep-seated conflicts. But the path of reconciliation, as frustrating as it can be, makes sense. Would Indonesia be better off today if there had been a genuine attempt to settle the scores left behind by the New Order era? It is unlikely.
Similarly, there is enormous potential for chaos in Myanmar should popular
anger be unleashed against the long-ruling generals. It is to the credit of Aung San Suu Kyi that she is negotiating a way forward.
I hope the message of forgiveness and reason that was expressed on the stage in Jakarta this week will be realised in both Malaysia and Thailand, and that Thaksin and Anwar prove to be men of their word should they rise to power.
It has worked in Indonesia and in Timor Leste; it is starting to bear fruit in Myanmar. In the words of Yudhoyono during his address to the forum: “There is no peace, no freedom, no stability unless we take out the cancerous seeds of conflict and hatred from our society and replace them with seeds of amity and goodwill.” — Jakarta Globe-Malaysian Insider
* A. Lin Neumann, founding editor of the Jakarta Globe, is the host of the “Insight Indonesia” talk show on BeritaSatu TV. He is also the publisher of Strategic Review.
Anybody got a torchlight??
Forgiveness, yea..
Forget, nay..
While i like Ramos Horta’s idea of restorative justice, i’m more in favor of a ‘distributive’ justice. Somewhat in between full pardon for ‘sins’ of commission or omission, and retributive justice.
Distribute what is recoverable, correct the correctable and discard the dead-wood. While an ‘Amnesty’ helps in reconciliation, it must never be open ended and remains conditional to good behavior. Repatriation is nigh impossible, so i suggest self-exile to the Mauritius or Kazakhstan, where the weather is more inclement.
We need to know slightly more about Thailand’s Thaksin, CLF.
What were the allegations, and is it true that Thaksin had amassed personal wealth of USD 2.5 billion and from the Thai people ans stashed it away in some foreign Banks ? Why is it shrouded in mystery?
Because, IF it happens to be true, then of course there ought to be “Distributive” justice accorded to the people of Thailand. Distribute or Re-distribute the monies back to his own people where it is due….
to forget you can’t in ones lifetime but forgive, you may as long as the suspect is put on trial and his evil deeds exposed, monies and goods redeemed. yes only after that they could be pardon and that is only if they collaborate in clearing up the case.
Switzerland is selling CD’s containing a list of a few thousand bank accounts of foreigners in Swiss banks. these CD’s cost only about 20 or 30mio $. Germany has just bought another one to catch tax evaders. if these people make a report of their misdemeanour to the police within a certain period of time, they’ll be let off lightly.
distributive justice sounds very nice but how would it be implemented?
like Jibby’s RM500 per household?
sentence them to 10 years garbage collection or put them in the toll gates to say good morning to the car drivers everyday, to give them a taste of real life!
anyway we shouldn’t count the chickens before they hatch.
For a start, the ‘returned’ sum could be consolidated into a Pokkai Fund with a Pemandu-like (teetoller, not a drunk one) agency to oversee the distribution for improving the lives of the marginalized, of all stripes. Then as seed-money for recasting a ‘social safety net’ and as funds for micro-financing. Time to cut out the Ah Long. Any excess can be used for reducing national debt, whether foreign or domestic.
Yeah, i’m dreaming.
The question of justice, of whicever variety, has to be seen in the light of the necessity to work with the very people you are accusing of injustice. The only way this can be done is engagement or, if you like, sleeping with the enemy.
That is why the ongoing experiment in Myanmar, tentative though it is, is so crucial not only to the country but to the rest of the world. Egypt is right now facing the exact same problem… how best to handle the junta… a problem that will, sooner or later, have to be faced by the rest of the Arab Spring countries.
Anwar says :”…if you are totally committed to democracy you do not have time for retribution…”. He ought to have finished his thoughts by the best way this is possible… cohabitation. Which in turn means engagement.
Now that he has said this, perhaps Anwar can, when he returns home, go about putting it into practice. Action, as they say, speak louder than words.
Are we witnessing Anwar the realist?
Experiment? To what end? No time for that. Practicalities, first.
Some are polygamist by choice, others monogamous by nature. Similarly the karmic rule of retribution is natural for many. Forgiveness is a phenomenon that is quite selective, in case you haven’t figured it out yet. Anwar may be taking a leaf out of Nelson Mandela’s creed, but with his own cultural sensitivities. Hang Jebat comes to mind.
Most practicalities, too, are experimental in nature, in that if one option does not work, another has to be considered.