{
    "success": true,
    "data": {
        "id": 1504186,
        "msgid": "and-the-winner-is-1447893297",
        "date": "2004-07-30 00:00:00",
        "title": "And the winner is",
        "author": null,
        "source": "CD",
        "tags": null,
        "topic": null,
        "summary": "And the winner is Indonesia's transformation to democracy in a few short years has been described as nothing short of amazing. Fears after the secession of East Timor in 2002 that the vast archipelago of the world's fourth most populous nation would fall apart under the pressures and promises of the ballot box have proved unfounded.",
        "content": "<p>And the winner is<\/p>\n<p>Indonesia's transformation to democracy in a few short years<br>\nhas been described as nothing short of amazing.<\/p>\n<p>Fears after the secession of East Timor in 2002 that the vast<br>\narchipelago of the world's fourth most populous nation would fall<br>\napart under the pressures and promises of the ballot box have<br>\nproved unfounded. The conduct of its first direct presidential<br>\npoll, whose first-round counting was completed on Monday, has<br>\nbeen remarkably peaceful, notwithstanding the odd bomb blast or<br>\ntwo.<\/p>\n<p>The reformasi protests that unseated the Soeharto regime in<br>\n1998 did not provide the boilerplate for national elections this<br>\nyear. On the contrary, campaigning was more razzmatazz than<br>\nrabble-rousing. Unlike other claimants to the democratic crown in<br>\nSoutheast Asia, the presidential contenders were polite to a<br>\nfault. There were grumbles of vote fraud, but none serious enough<br>\nto rock the electoral boat.<\/p>\n<p>Like the region's other exuberant democracies, however,<br>\ncritics like to point out that Indonesia's politics continues to<br>\nelevate personality over policy. The two leading candidates who<br>\nwill face a run-off election in September, Lt. Gen. (ret) Susilo<br>\nBambang Yudhoyono and President Megawati Soekarnoputri, fought on<br>\npopular appeal rather than program manifestoes.<\/p>\n<p>Even so, charisma has probably reached its limits. In what is<br>\nexpected to be a close race, Megawati's better organized<br>\nIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) will have the<br>\nadvantage over Susilo's fledgling Democratic Party. The influence<br>\nof Golkar, the country's largest party whose candidate General<br>\nWiranto was knocked out in the first round, is likely to be<br>\ndecisive. Whatever the outcome, a direct mandate will strengthen<br>\nthe new president's hand in enacting much-needed reforms. And<br>\nwhoever emerges victorious, the real winners of the country's<br>\ncomplex set of elections in 2004 will at long last be the<br>\nIndonesian people.<\/p>\n<p>-- New Straits Times, Kuala Lumpur<\/p>",
        "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/and-the-winner-is-1447893297",
        "image": ""
    },
    "sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
    "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}