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Indonesian presidential candidates (from left) ex-general and his running mate former economics minister ; and front-runner and former Jakarta governor Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo and his running mate former Indonesian vice-president Jusuf Kalla. In the absence of concrete and distinct policies that differentiate each other, both camps have paid homage to the legacy offirst Indonesian president . Su/(arno's 'presence' in Indonesian polls LANGUAGE OF POLITICS: (changing over time) and polysemic Both Prabowo/Hatta (capable of meaning several things at the same time). and Jokowi/Kalla camps claim to be rightful The fluid and plastic nature of the signifier Sukarno - here taken as a inheritors of the Sukarno legacy symbol - is partly due to the per• sonality of the man referred to. In his One curious feature of this self-iden• time, Sukarno was widely acknowl• heats up, ob• tification process is the manner in edged as a master orator, a charismatic servers and analysts have which both the Prabowo/Hatta and leader, an adept and able propagan• begun to notice that both Jokowi/Kalla camps have dist for his cause. theS thePrabowo/Hattapresidential raceandin paid homage to the legacy of Yet ruling as he did during A· the turbulent decades of the Jokowi/Kalla teams are hard-pressed Indonesia's first leader, to identify themselves as distinct from Sukarno. 1950s and 1960s, when In• the other. To quote a foreign analyst donesia was fraught with Complicating matters further was based in Jogjakarta: "Both challenges ranging from se• the previous parliamentary election• sides are claiming to be the cessionist movements, sep• campaign that seemed devoid of is• inheritor of the Sukarno Farislz Noor aratist groups, Islamists who sues, with none of the contesting par• legacy, but who is right?" is Senior wanted an Islamic state and ties offering anything concrete in The answer to the question Fellowat the Communists who wanted a terms of foreign policy positions, long• is both. For Sukarno's com• S. Rajaratnam ' communis~ state, Sukarno term development plans or even plex and confounding iden• School of played a balancing act that spelling out their vision for the future tity as a multifaceted states• Intel'national managed to keep all these of Indonesia in realistic terms. man means that he has left Studies, Nanyang forces at bay. The absence of ideologital position• behind an overdetermined Technological "His Nasakom (Nasional• ing in the campaign thus far is re• legacy that can mean many University, isme-Agama- Komunisme/ flected by the fact that, as in previous things to many people. , and Nationalism -Religion -Com• elections in Indonesia, there has in• In linguistic terms this is visitingfellowat munism) strategy attempted stead been a host of celebrity can• what would be called an ISIS to keep the forces of the na• didates, "superstars", gossip and the empty signifier; that is a sign tionalists, the Islamists, the like. or symbol that is identifiable Communists and the Army But at present as the presidential and yet is not anchored to a particular, together, until the ill-fated experiment debates have begun, both sides are fixed referent (the signified). met its end with the untimely failed compelled to spell out the terms of Though political analysts with a coup attempt in 1965 and the total their long-term policies and both sides . strong political-economy or materi• eradication of the Indonesian Com-' are attempting to package and present alist basis may find such cavalier use .munist Party. themselves to the electorate in bold of signs confounding or even mis• During this period, Sukarno was relief: Emphasising the particularity leading, it should be remembered that many things to many people: To the of their respective policies and show• ,the language of politics is replete with Islamists he presented himself as a ing just how they are different from such empty signifiers whose mean• model modern Muslim leader; to the the other. ings or referents are diachronic ..• Turn to page 17 Su/carno's legacy a cQnvenient vehicle for all politicians

-+ From Page 14 today all the mainstream political While for social activists, plural• royal courts and aristocracy of the The prevalence of images and ref• movements are doing the same: For ists and liberals, it is Sukarno's de• past no longer wield political pow• erences to Sukarno during this pres• Communists as an advocate of social contemporary Indonesian national• fence of Indonesian pluralism and er. idential campaign reminds us that equality and to the Nationalists as ists who may be partial to the diversity that attracts them the In the absence of such a hierarchy, even in the context of ostensibly sec• an Indonesian patriot .. PrabowojHatta camp, Sukarno's de• most, and this is also the facet of Sukarno's legacy serves as a con• ular plural democracies like Indone• Even then, in the 1950s-60s, all the fence of Indonesian territory and Sukarno's legacy that is being venient and recognisable vehicle for sia's, there remain master narratives major political groups in Indonesia the principles of Indonesian repub• adroitly foregrounded by the different political aspirations; and and a (secular) political mythology were trying to monopolise the man licanism sit well with their own as• JokowijKalla camp. he has been elevated to the status of as well. and the symbol Sukarno for them• pirations for a more developed and Indonesia is a country that is an imminent and invisible found• Modernity has not ~radicated the selves. economically independent Indone• both ancient and modern, and it ing-father figure by all parties con• transcendental from politics, be it in It is, therefore, hardly a surprise if sia. happens to be a country where the cerned. the West or in Indonesia.

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