Democracy and power<\/p>\n
Being one of the fledgling democracies in the world,
\nIndonesia's general elections got a thumbs up from many
\ncountries. Beginning from the first-ever direct legislative
\nelections in April last year to the direct presidential election,
\nall went off successfully and peacefully.<\/p>\n
Following that, more direct elections were held for governors,
\nregents and mayors, and they too were peacefully staged. What we
\nsee as a shortcoming was only the party leaders' willingness or
\ncommitment to educating their supporters on democracy. So far, we
\nhave not heard the losers in these contests accepting defeat and
\ncongratulating the winner, and that includes the 2004
\npresidential election, when the incumbent Megawati Soekarnoputri
\nlost but failed to congratulate the winner, Susilo Bambang
\nYudhoyono, the current President of the country.<\/p>\n
Such an education on democracy for the people by party
\nleaders, academics, and intellectuals is a matter of urgency in
\norder that they, in the future, will accept not only defeat, but
\nalso arguments and opinions of others. Lacking such education
\ncould create chaos.<\/p>\n
The latest case of reluctance to accept defeat is seen in the
\nhigh-profile Depok mayoral election dispute, when the incumbent
\nmayor Badrul Kamal from the largest party, Golkar, based on the
\nSupreme Court's ruling, was finally defeated (after the June
\nelection) by Nur Mahmudi Ismail from the Prosperous Justice Party
\n(PKS). It created a leadership vacuum in Depok for the past six
\nmonths.<\/p>\n
One might recall the United States' election case when the
\nDemocratic Party's contender Al Gore was defeated after a lengthy
\n(six weeks) legal dispute with the current President George W.
\nBush of the Republican Party in the 2000 general election. The
\ndifference is that after the final court rulings were decided, Al
\nGore immediately congratulated George Bush, so that all Americans
\nsighed with relief because the lengthy legal battle was finally
\nover, despite the fact that Gore was the incumbent vice president
\nduring the Clinton administration.<\/p>\n
Having similar cases like in the above mentioned U.S.
\nelection, the six-month legal battle here involving Badrul Kamal
\nshould have been over when the Supreme court made its decision,
\nthat is, if the Golkar Party leaders had taught their candidates
\nthe meaning of true democracy. Badrul must stop struggling
\nfurther as the Supreme Court chief Bagir Manan said \"a case
\nreview according to the law can only be done once\" (The Jakarta
\nPost, Dec. 20). Failure to do that would only reflect the thirst
\nof power both from parties' rank and file, as well as the
\ncandidates themselves.<\/p>\n
M. RUSDI
\nJakarta<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/democracy-and-power-1447893297",
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