Seminar Report The role of Political Parties in Democratic Transitions

Political reform period (1999-present)
Suharto stepped down in 1998 and a period of political reform followed with competition between the
executive and the legislative powers. Before the current president Yudhoyono there were three
transitional presidents who each made important contributions such as opening space for freedom of
expression for the press; holding a referendum regarding the independence of East Timor and the
return of the army to their barracks. President Yudhoyono was the first president to be peacefully
elected. The most important challenge now is to create a clean government and beat corruption. A
democracy looses power if top executives have too much power and prerogatives.
Dr Ignas Kleden emphasized the most important lessons learned in the course of political history:
1. The essential thing about democracy is that no one from outside can determine how the process
will develop. It has to come from inside the country itself.
2. It is dangerous to use an emergency situation to create democratic change. There is a risk that
emergencies are then used as a prerogative to concentrate power in one hand.
3. Democracy is not a universal system but is bound to history and socially and culturally defined.
4. The issue of politics should be institutionalized and not solely depend on individuals or great
personalities.
The presentation was followed by comments by the discussant Mr Aung Naing Oo who pointed out the
similarities between Myanmar and Indonesia: both have been colonized, have/had the dual function of the
army, freedom of the press, the issue of corruption and both embarked on a path towards multiparty
democracy.
During the ensuing discussion, participants raised questions such as: What made Indonesia change the
constitution? How did the Indonesian government gain trust and confidence of the people? Should
aspirations for change come from the dominant party or from other political parties?
Mr Ignas Kleden stated that the idea of political change cannot be decided in a certain point in time but it
is a longer process. Political parties can gain trust and confidence of the people when the set a good
example and do what they promise.
1.5. Summary Presentation on “Peaceful Political Accommodation: the case of South Africa”
By Mr Shaun Mackay, South African Researcher and Political Analyst
Discussant: Mrs Ma Thida (Sanchaung), writer and political commentator
In this presentation, Mr Shaun Mackay, South African Researcher and Political Analyst presented the
main challenges that were at the heart of the dialogue in South Africa's negotiated transition.
At the start of the process, South Africa was a closed society with a white oppressive government, where
blacks lived in reserved areas, 70% of the land was owned by 5% of white landowners and no space
existed for opposition groups to engage politically. A ban on political parties and deeply entrenched racial
and ethnic divisions existed as a result of a deliberate policy of divide and rule installed by the apartheid
regime and violent armed resistance.
The transition process can be characterised as a triple transition: from apartheid to democracy; from a
closed to an open economy; and, from armed conflict and military regime to a civilian regime. It started
with the release of a large number of political prisoners, including (black opposition leader) Nelson
Mandela. The structure chosen to negotiate the political settlement was a national convention (CODESA),
in which all registered political parties (allowed after the lifting of the ban) were represented including
armed resistance forces. This process was fully inclusive because it was politically impossible to take
decisions on the whole of the nation without involving all stakeholders. Decisions were made by
consensus. This caused problems and to break the deadlock, an innovative solution was found to move
the process forward in the form of the ‘’sufficient consensus formula” by which a sufficient number but not
all people/groups agree (rather than an absolute consensus where all must agree).
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