Intense Communication with Prabowo, SBY Advises Not to Be Anti-Criticism

The 6th President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, expressed concern over the regression of democracy in countries around the world, including Indonesia. The founder of the Democratic Party also conveyed a message to the government regarding strategies to safeguard democracy.

"Set back, regression of democracy around the globe," said Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to Indonesian students and Japanese academics at the Indonesian Embassy in Tokyo, Japan, Friday (7/3/2025).

The expression, which signifies a global regression of democracy, was conveyed by the former president commonly referred to as SBY during the book discussion event titled “Standing Firm for Indonesia's Democracy.” The book is the result of in-depth interviews conducted by Japanese academics with SBY to explore his experiences and thoughts during his leadership of Indonesia in the democratic transition period.

SBY's concerns about the state of democracy are not baseless. Recently, The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) released the 2024 Global Democracy Index, which stands at 5.17 on a scale of 10.

The data included in the EIU 2025 Report indicates a decline in democracy compared to previous years. In fact, the Global Democracy Index has continued to deteriorate over the past decade, with a score of 5.55 in 2015.

"The big countries that are supposedly considered as champions of democracy, the countries that lecture us, in reality are not immune from the decline in their democracy," said SBY.

The United States, a country that emerged from the Cold War with democracy, could be a good example. The EIU report states that the US is a flawed democracy and is ranked 28th out of 165 countries and two territories with a score of 7.85.

In fact, the US is still one of the countries with a full democracy in 2015. This superpower is ranked 20th with a score of 8.05.

This assessment is not arbitrary. The EIU incorporates five evaluation indicators that are part of democracy, ranging from the electoral process and pluralism, government effectiveness, political participation, political culture, to civil liberties.

Indonesia is also classified as a flawed democracy with a total score of 6.44, ranking 59th in 2024. Similar to the United States and globally, this score is lower compared to 2015, which stood at 7.03.

In the first year after SBY's leadership transitioned to President Joko Widodo, Indonesia ranked 49th. Nevertheless, this score also indicates that Indonesia has not yet escaped the status of a flawed democracy.

To achieve full democracy, the EIU assesses that a country needs to score above 8.00. In 2024, only 25 countries will have achieved this, while 46 others will be categorized as flawed democracies, 36 as hybrid regimes, and 60 as authoritarian regimes.

Not anti-criticism

In order for Indonesian democracy not to decline further, SBY emphasized the importance of communication in maintaining democratic values. In fact, as the previous President of the Republic of Indonesia, he reminded the current President Prabowo Subianto not to be anti-criticism. One way is to build quality communication.

According to SBY, all parties play an important role in maintaining democratic values. In fact, this struggle is carried out by opposing everything that damages various things, starting from democracy, the constitution, the framework of the state, to the mechanism of checks and balances or supervision and balance.

"I have conveyed to President Prabowo some time ago the importance of improving genuine communication between the palace and those who convey their criticism. Mr. Prabowo also said, 'We continue to improve the quality of communication,'" he said.

With maintained communication, SBY is optimistic about the future under Prabowo's leadership. He believes that this government still has various political and economic resources to face the current situation.

I have conveyed to President Prabowo some time ago the importance of improving genuine (quality) communication between the palace and those who convey their criticism.

In fact, as a figure who spent his youth as a TNI soldier, SBY admitted that he still values freedom of expression while leading this country. Freedom of speech, he continued, must still be respected if used appropriately.

"When I was very young, we loved democracy. If what the students said was an expression of freedom of speech, why are we getting upset," said SBY.

Wahyu Prasetiawan, one of the editors of the book "Standing Firm for Indonesia's Democracy" stated that this title was chosen because SBY was considered capable of maintaining democracy. He considered that SBY could have ignored democracy because he was in power as the leader of Indonesia in the period 2004-2014, but he did not do so.

"The most prominent thing is how SBY maintains democracy in Indonesia. As a president with such high power, Mr. SBY could actually do the opposite, but he did not," he said.

Indonesian Ambassador to Japan Heri Ahmadi in his speech at the event also saw the relevance of the current conditions with SBY's thoughts in the book.

"SBY is the first president of the Republic of Indonesia who was directly elected by the Indonesian people and also after entering the reform program. The consolidation of democracy at that time was very important, timely at the present time," he said.

Collaboration

Previously, SBY also stated that the condition of multilateralism was facing a crisis at the Tokyo Conference, Tuesday (4/3/2025). In fact, in front of hundreds of participants from various countries, SBY said that the world was increasingly divided.

The multilateralism concept that prioritizes cooperation between more than two countries and international organizations is said to be hampered by geopolitical competition. In fact, the war in Ukraine to the genocide in Gaza, Palestine, still occurs without being able to be stopped by the United Nations Security Council.

"There is a strong perception of double standards in the application of international law and norms. In my perspective, the UN is a composite of failures, reflected in the wars that continue today," he said.

SBY stated that the UN as an organization that oversees countries on earth should be strengthened. Not only separating itself from the superpowers, this organization that reflects multilateralism must reunite and work together.

"Let us return to the path of cooperation, partnership and collaboration. No country can solve global problems alone. No country can feel safe by making other countries feel insecure," he said.

This collaboration was also expressed by SBY through an African proverb, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”