81 Years of Independence: From Foreign Colonizers to 'Insider' Colonizers

Imam Sahroni Darmawan

Contributor

20 Apr 2026 · 19:03 20 April 2026 19:03 WIB 6 minutes reading time: 6 minutes 6 read

Reflections on 81 years of independence: pseudo-independence, domination by “insiders”, corruption, and democracy that has lost its meaning for the Indonesian people.

Ilustrasi gambar 81 tahun merdeka, namun rakyat masih terbelenggu ordal, korupsi, dan ketidakadilan di balik gemerlap demokrasi. (Source: Generative AI (Gemini), Imam Sahroni Darmawan.)

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Table of Contents

The High Cost of Honesty
Meritocracy That Died at the Hands of "Ordal"
Democracy Sold in the Black Market
Root of the Problem: The State as a Broker
Synthesis: Towards True Independence
A Silent Warning

Section 3/3: Democracy Sold in the Black Market

Democracy Sold in the Black Market

Procedurally, our democracy appears to be alive. We hold elections routinely, there are political parties, and there is a parliament. However, look at the substance. Our democracy has shifted into a "black market" where the people's votes are traded through the phenomenon of "dawn attacks" or money politics.

Money politics is no longer a public secret, but a prerequisite for winning. As a result, those who are elected are not the best in terms of ideas, but those with the deepest pockets. A democracy like this only produces leaders who are loyal to the financiers, not to the constituents. The people's voice is only valued for five minutes in the voting booth, after which they become alienated spectators in their own homeland.

Root of the Problem: The State as a Broker

Why has all of this happened after eight decades of independence? This problem is not just about naughty individuals or officials who are mistaken. This is a systemic failure. The culture of corruption has been internalized so deeply that it is considered a reasonable transaction cost. Our law enforcement often appears like a knife that is sharp downwards but blunt upwards. The law is no longer an instrument of justice, but a tool to strike those who do not have power relations.

Furthermore, the state seems to have failed to become a neutral public institution. The state often acts more like an interest broker for the elites than as a servant of the citizens. The relationship between the state and citizens becomes unbalanced; citizens are positioned as subjects who must serve the ego of the bureaucracy, not the legitimate owners of sovereignty.

Synthesis: Towards True Independence

What we have now is a republic in the guise of independence, but with a body still shackled by colonial patterns that have been indigenized. We are politically independent from the Netherlands and Japan, but we are not yet fully independent from the corrupt, discriminatory, and authoritarian character that we inherited from them.

The Indonesia we dream of at the age of 81 should be an Indonesia where a farmer's child can become a leader without having to have "connections." An Indonesia where an activist can sleep soundly without fear of being doused with acid for their criticism. An Indonesia where the law applies equally to the president's child and the scavenger's child.

A Silent Warning

Eighty-one years is a mature enough age for a nation to stop paying lip service to economic growth figures that are not felt by those at the bottom. This is not to spread pessimism, but rather an invitation to honest reflection.

Independence is not a gift that was completely given in 1945. Independence is a process that must be fought every day against the injustice that grows within our own house. We must realize that if we continue to allow our democracy to be corrupted by money and our laws to be bought by power, then the celebration of independence every year is just an annual ritual to celebrate falsehood.

Perhaps, the best way to honor the heroes is not with a magnificent ceremony, but by bravely admitting that we are not doing well, and then starting to break one by one the structural shackles that still bind the feet of this nation. Before it's too late, and we wake up one morning realizing that we are just strangers in a land that is said to be independent.