Democracy Means Freedom of Opinion. Is It Listened?

Democracy is considered the most ideal system to apply and has transformed many state orders
in the world. At the beginning of the 19 th century there were more than 900 royal thrones in the world.
But until the eighth decade of the 20th century it dropped to 40, including in Indonesia.

In the current era of reform, Indonesians are free to argue, to work, to be leaders, to elect
government leaders, and to criticize the government. The 16 th President of US, Abraham Lincoln
argued that Democracy means the Government of the People, by the People and for the People.
Strengthtened by article 28 of Undang-undang Dasar 1945 that the people are given freedom of
association and assembly, issuing thoughts with oral and written. Guaranteed and protected by the
Declaration of Human Rights article 19 and 29 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights.

The process of submitting an opinion must pass through diplomacy stages consisting of
advocacy, public hearings, audiences, and demonstrations. Referring to Undang-undang no. 9 of 1998
on Freedom of Expression of Public Opinion, can be reached by Parade, the Great Meeting and / or
Mass Demonstration. But in daily practice mass demonstrations are more desirable than any other
option.

According to Yusran Darman in 2009, mass demonstrations can occur because of opinions that
are not channeled or heard well by the government, so that the people do an action for their opinions
to be heard. The government, in its duty is in the framework of democracy, the essence is to serve the
people. When the people have been voiced but not heard, mass demonstrations will take place.

Since 1998 recorded as many as 26 mass demonstrations in Indonesia. Several examples,

beginning in 2006, a group of people asked related stakeholders to examine former president Soeharto
who allegedly committed corruption and prosecute him if proven. However, the demands were not
fulfilled, and then on May 16, 2006, called Gerakan Masyarakat Adili Soeharto demonstrated in front
of the Kontras Jakarta Office. Similar fate experienced by medical students in the Indonesian Medical
Student Executive Boards’ Association since early 2014 has been advocated and audianced to Dewan
Perwakilan Rakyat RI, they rejected the Draft of Law Tobacco. Diplomacy efforts didn’t lead to a
solution from the government, then in mid-April 2014 hundreds of medical students from all over
Indonesia executed mass demonstrations to reject it.

In the same year, doctors disagreed with the government's policy of applying the Primary
Service Doctor's medical education system by requiring general practitioners to got lectured for 3
years in order to obtain practice licenses in primary health facilities such as Puskesmas, Primary
Clinic, and others. According to the experts, the system will only waste time and cost. The diplomatic
effort was done by the Ikatan Dokter Indonesia to the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia,
but didn’t produce results. Finally on October 24, 2014 mass demonstrations dismissed the policy.
Ironically, the policy is still launched and inaugurated in 2015.

Based on the above summary of democracy proves that the process of democracy in Indonesia
has not run perfectly because the opinion to the government or related stakeholders must be through
mass demonstration to be heard. This is contrast to the principle of democracy held long ago that
democracy means free opinion. If the people give opinion, then it’s obligatory for the government to
listen and find a solution, because in the democracy the supreme power is hold by the people and the
government as the public servant.

So, we as the youth nation's successor who has a nationalist spirit is must be more pro and
active in response to ongoing issues around us. Keep an eye on the delivery process and the critics of
the stakeholders in order to maintain the prefect implementation of democracy in Indonesia.