A political comedy of errors<\/p>\n
What we are currently seeing on Indonesia's political stage is
\na play about democracy performed by political actors who have
\nlost their sense of logic. Observe Megawati Soekarnoputri, whose
\nparty won the most votes in the June general election, yet is
\nacting like a loser. The consequence is that she is in danger of
\nbeing left behind.<\/p>\n
Golkar's B.J. Habibie came out a loser in the general election
\nand support for his presidential candidacy is not solid, even in
\nhis own party. In addition he has to bear the status quo stigma.
\nIt is natural under the circumstances that many Indonesians would
\nlike to see him pull out of the presidential race. Yet, he is
\ndetermined to go on and is even looking increasingly confident of
\nwinning. Now he is even looking to Army Gen. Wiranto to be his
\nvice president. But both Habibie and Wiranto are problematic
\nfigures. Not only is Wiranto, like Habibie, considered a
\nprotagonist of the old status quo, as commander of the armed
\nforces he is responsible for the Indonesian Military's many
\nmistakes.<\/p>\n
The case of (Nahdlatul Ulama leader) Gus Dur is even more
\nludicrous. Gus Dur does not formally belong to any political
\nparty, although he is in a way associated with the National
\nAwakening Party (PKB). He is not being nominated as a
\npresidential candidate by this party which he helped set up, but
\nby Amien Rais' \"axis force\". Among all the present presidential
\ncandidates, he is the one whose physical condition is the most
\nimpaired. Still, he performs the deftest maneuvers. Gus Dur, who
\nuntil not so long ago used to consider the idea of him being a
\npresidential candidate as laughable, now seems to have become
\nincreasingly happy it.<\/p>\n
Gus Dur's proposed vice president, Amien Rais, is a political
\nparty leader but his party finished only fifth in the ballot. The
\nremarkable thing about this is that, even so, he has lately been
\nundertaking political safaries with considerable gusto. Some
\nobservers believe he convinced Gus Dur into joining him so he
\ncould be vice president, even though he had sworn in the past he
\nwould never accept being second-in-command.<\/p>\n
For us, indeed, democracy is not a simple matter. As observers
\nhave said, we are at present being tested in our ability to
\npractice democracy even though we have just begun to learn about
\nit. This is why everything now is looking absurd and devoid of
\nlogic.<\/p>\n
-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/a-political-comedy-of-errors-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }