Trust in government is a foundation of democracy. The legitimacy of political and administrative institutions and actors vital to the political process is based largely on trust. In a system of indirect democracy the people delegate their sovereignty to these institutions and actors, trusting that this mandate will be handled in an appropriate way. On the other hand, an inherent part of any democracy is a “healthy distrust” or at least skepticism towards the powerful. This skepticism is the driving factor that provides opportunities for citizens or groups of citizens to monitor the activities of people and institutions they supposedly trust. This monitoring function is performed by independent bodies can function as democratic safeguards. Hence, in promoting democracy—and thus a better Indonesia—a balance between trust and “distrust” in the leaders, government and high state institutions is crucial. Too little trust of the people in the leader, government and high state institutions can be problematic and hinder the development of the nation. Too much trust, however, can also be problematic as the leader, bureaucrats and politicians can abuse the trust for personal gains.

Growing distrust

Unfortunately, while trust is crucial in building a better society, based on the recent development, it is distrust, not trust that seems to be growing in Indonesia. People have less trust in the country’s politics, government, and leaders. Despite the encouraging development of a formal democracy—democracy in a sense that the president and the representatives are now elected through a direct election—Indonesian people have generally lost their trust in politics as a way to lead their country to sustainable prosperity and democracy based on a strong rule of law. The nation’s politics is still associated with corruption. The decentralisation process which was meant to bring politics closer to the peoples, only saw a decentralisation of corruption. Local governors and elites see decentralisation as an ideal way of finally getting a piece of the pie, whereas 70% of regional income used to go to Jakarta under Suharto’s rule.

In a poll carried out by the Psychology Department of Bandung- based Padjadjaran University disclosed that the confidence crisis has infected all political parties in Indonesia.[i] The poll, which randomly interviewed 1,100 respondents from various big cities across Indonesia, revealed that the nation’s political parties are self-centered, and ignore the public interest they claim to represent which resulted in a crisis over a loss of confidence.

“I used to think that they (legislators) represented us, but observing their performance, now I have changed my mind. They are not the people's representatives anymore,” said Sapto Prayitno, 60, is a father of six children who sells bakso (meat-ball soup) in Jakarta.[ii] And commenting on the Annual Session of the People’s Consultative Assembly in 2002, Bagaskara, 28, a school teacher at a noted private primary school in Salemba, Central Jakarta said, “What Annual Session? I don't see any significance in it as I never feel that the legislators are my representatives.”[iii]

Sapto and Bagaskara are not alone.

A poll conducted by the Institute for Economic and Social Research, Education and Information (LP3ES) indicated that 64 percent of people surveyed said the parties failed to heed their aspirations.[iv]  LP3ES carried out the research in urban and rural areas in 13 provinces from May 1 through 12, 2003, to find out the opinion of people on the increasing number of political parties. Some 3,000 respondents were surveyed via face-to-face interviews.

Confucius once said that governments need guns, weapons, food and trust, but if there is one thing that the government must have, it is trust. Alas, it is trust that the government and the high state institution seem to be lacking of. The survey, organized by the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES), showed that people’s trust in the presidential office had dropped from 52 percent in 2002 to 37 percent in 2003.[v] The survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews with 3,000 respondents in 32 provinces across the country from June 1 through July 5.  The people's confidence in the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) also went down from 48 percent in 2002 to 38 percent in 2003, and surprisingly the public's trust in the House of Representatives (DPR) was about 34 percent in 2003. Only 35 percent of respondents still had faith in the Attorney General's Office (AGO), and 36 percent in the Supreme Court. A report from the National Law Commission (KHN) produced last year branded the AGO as the most secretive component of the country's legal system and suggested it reform to regain the public's trust. And in a move to regain people’s trust, the Abdul Rahman Saleh said the establishment of the supervisory commission had become a priority on the to-do list of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Cabinet in the first 100 days.

“The commission will be of great importance in winning back the trust of the public, who have long harbored skepticism toward the prosecutors’ work,” said Attorney General Abdul Rahman.[vi] Will the new commission be successful to regain the public’s trust is remained to be seen. Those against the commission say that instead of setting up a new institution, the AGO should improve the performance of its internal supervision division.

People’s distrust in government may be based on a number of reasons. One explanation is connected with people’s practical experience of specific administrative units. During the last forty years, there is a reasonable ground for a growing of distrust among Indonesians.  “Past abuses, and corruption that has permeated every sector of life, has eroded trust in government agencies and institutions,” wrote Jusuf Wanandi, the Indonesia’s political observer.[vii] A survey conducted by Charney Research of New York and AC Nielsen Indonesia reported that at least 65 percent of adults surveyed said that they did not like politics at all because of widespread political corruption. According to the latest report by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), there are irregularities of Rp 37.4 trillion (US$4.1 billion) in 377 state institutions from 2002 until the first semester of 2004. This huge amount is at least 63 percent of the government fuel subsidy in 2004.

The lack of transparency and accountability can also be another reason for the breakdown in trust. These factors combine the distrust created by past experiences and the disappointments caused by unfulfilled promises and agreements on all sides. Ineffective and untruthful leadership combined with overblown campaign promises which distort facts in the interest of vested parties complete the witches’ brew and we find ourselves in an increasingly dysfunctional society incapable of giving trust.

“Why should I care about the state if the state never pays attention to its people? I don’t trust them,” said Bagaskara.

Distrust among Indonesians is growing not only for the country’s politics and government, but also among Indonesians themselves.  People also have less trust in those who have different backgrounds—race and religion—from them. Whether we disagree or not, the minority and majority labels, which are still widely used in our daily lives, are a divider, rather than a unifier notion. What non-Muslims call an official, but unspoken, movement toward “Islamization” of national laws contributes to distrust among religious groups. Trust among religious and ethnic groups is low.[viii]

Distrust destroys not only relationship, but also cooperative spirit. Once in place, distrust forms a powerful frame on subsequent events in the relationship, such that even good-faith efforts by the offender to restore the relationship are met with skepticism and suspicion. In terms of the people vis a vis the government, the lack of public’s trust of the government will make them to less incline in the cooperation  with the government in carrying out the development programs. With regards to diverse communities, the result of distrust is a “self-fulfilling prophecy”, where every move the other person makes is interpreted as additional evidence that justifies an initial decision to distrust him/her. This distrust not only inhibits cooperation in the relationship, but also may result in retaliation that causes the conflict to escalate. When the other person reciprocates this sentiment, there is mutual distrust that further fuels the escalation of conflict. Distrust is likely to increase with the magnitude of the violation, the number of past violations, and the perception that the offender intended to commit the violation. Distrust naturally prompts us to take steps that reduce our vulnerability in an attempt to protect our interests. Distrust can also cause conflicts to escalate to the point of intractability, as positions harden and the parties become increasingly reluctant to yield concessions. As we have seen, the strong distrust among Dayak people and Madurese had led to a brutal killing of hundred innocent people in 2001.

It is then imperative for the country’s new leader to build trust among Indonesians in their government, for community leaders and public figures, including religious leaders, to build trust among Indonesians in their fellow citizens, and for the country’s new legislative members to build trust among Indonesians in their high state institutions.