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Shortly after his successor was sworn in as legal and human rights adviser to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, legal expert Jimly Asshiddiqie joined a group of senior politicians and public figures who have criticized what they perceive as the government’s lack of firmness in upholding the law. This lack of enforcement, they contend, is to blame for social conflicts and disobedience in many parts of the country.

The presence of Jimly, a former Constitutional Court chief justice, at a gathering at the headquarters of Muhammadiyah in Jakarta on Jan. 19 surprised many political observers. Unlike politicians who criticize the government for political gain, Jimly has a reputation as a nonpartisan scholar who has acted as a living encyclopedia for all factions on matters of state administration affairs.

In the meeting, Jimly emphasized that as a nation based on law, it should be the rule of law — as opposed to economic or political supremacy — that serves as the basis for national life. But, he said in his brief remarks, this was not the case today.

Former Vice President Jusuf Kalla continued Jimly’s train of thought, saying that the government lacked firmness in enforcing the law, and that there weren’t enough role models leading the nation’s governance. Last year Kalla had made an even more pointed remark in an interview on Metro TV, saying, “It is the ruling party that must set a good example in upholding the law.”

The comment was a criticism of Yudhoyono, Kalla’s former partner in leading the nation from 2004 to 2009. It suggested that if Yudhoyono and his cabinet had better enforced the law, there wouldn’t have been so many social conflicts, land disputes, attacks on public facilities and so forth. “Touch their hearts,” said Kalla, referring to conflicts in Papua, Aceh and elsewhere. “Don’t touch them physically.”

As social conflicts continue to fester, government protection is often absent, and many are questioning the discriminatory nature of “justice” in this country. Harsh punishments are handed out to petty criminals — those who steal Rp 1,000 (11 cents) bananas and worn-out sandals — but people whose corruption costs the state millions of dollars go free, even in cases where their crimes are reported. And behind all of these political dramas there are the so-called intellectual actors. These people design and take advantage of social unrest, but their misdeeds are rarely brought to light.

All the same, so many big-party politicians have been dumped in jail that their parties have become among the least-trusted institutions in the country. The House of Representatives is a huge source of problems too; according to its own speaker, Marzuki Alie, two-thirds of its members are corrupt or unqualified.

The effect of all of this is that citizens are left to interpret the law freely, which often means taking it into their own hands.

“This is the reason why social disobedience is spreading,” Kalla said. “This is why some segments in society behave however they like. They know there is no better alternative in sight.”

Akbar Tanjung, who lost the Golkar Party chairmanship to Kalla in 2004, said at the same meeting that he shared the former vice president’s views.

He cited as evidence of the government’s legal ineptitude its inability to secure the right to worship for minority groups. The most recent instance of this is in Bogor, where the mayor continues to ignore a Supreme Court order that the GKI Yasmin church there should be allowed to reopen. Yudhoyono has yet to solve this distortion of the law.

Akbar said the rise of attacks on the state apparatus, including police, was an alarm bell that social disobedience was growing. Furthermore, he said, the execution of economic development that contradicts the Constitution is an indication of poor state management in need of change.

Wiranto, the former military chief, was also in attendance. He said the president needed to step up and lead the entire nation, not just his own Democratic Party. Thus, he said, Yudhoyono should leave his party position immediately, or else continue to experience a conflict of interest.

It wasn’t the first time Wiranto had criticized Yudhoyono, who used to serve under him in the military. Previously he said that the moment a president is sworn in, he must stand above all interest groups and act as leader of the entire nation, educating his party to behave accordingly and blocking lawmakers’ moves on occasion in the interests of the millions of voters who put him in office. The inference was that the president had not passed muster in this regard.

The president has chosen to rely on fragile support from a coalition of parties, which, because of the impending 2014 elections and the interparty jockeying for power it will create, will soon abandon him.

The Jan. 19 gathering was not the first time the president had been reminded of shortcomings in his leadership style, and likely will not be the last. Yudhoyono needs to take the gatherings to heart and show his leadership by absorbing their ideas and reshaping his approach to pressing issues. Behind the concerns of these senior politicians, there are millions of citizens with concerns of their own.

Such initiative would raise Yudhoyono’s profile and bolster his legacy as a president who listens.

Pitan Daslani is a political correspondent for BeritaSatu Media Holdings.