Direct regional elections provide a taste of democracy<\/p>\n
Stevie Emilia
\nThe Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
For decades, the idea of direct regional elections for local
\nleaders was unthinkable. But things change and Indonesia embraced
\ndirect regional elections in 2005, which promises to deepen and
\ninstitutionalize democratic traditions at the grassroots level.<\/p>\n
Direct regional elections -- the first in the country's
\nhistory -- are scheduled to be held in over 200 mayoralties,
\nregencies and provinces. The elections began on June 1 in Kutai
\nKartanegara regency in East Kalimantan, where residents were able
\nto vote for their regent.<\/p>\n
The election in Kutai was relatively smooth, besides a few
\nprotests over alleged poll irregularities, and in the end
\nSyaukani became Indonesia's first regional leader directly
\nelected by the people.<\/p>\n
Kutai's success in holding the first direct regional elections
\ngave everyone hope that elections in other parts of the country
\n-- an exciting but also worrisome process -- would be just as
\nsuccessful and pave the way for a return of sovereignty to the
\npeople.<\/p>\n
The regional elections, which had their starting point in the
\nregional autonomy that was introduced in 2001, were held in the
\nhigh spirit that followed the free and fair general elections in
\n1999 and 2004, and marked a giant leap of faith to embrace a
\nsystem that had been disregarded for over four decades.<\/p>\n
Regional autonomy itself has long been criticized for doing
\nlittle for people at the lower levels of society, serving only to
\ntransfer power from the hands of unscrupulous politicians in the
\ncentral government to even more unscrupulous ones at the local
\nlevel.<\/p>\n
But there is hope regional elections will eventually bring a
\nmore democratic rule to the local level and lead to the rise of
\nlocal leaders who are more accountable and qualified, and able to
\ncarry out the wishes of the people.<\/p>\n
Both regional autonomy and direct regional elections are also
\nexpected to put an end to the unbalanced relationship between the
\ncentral and local governments, as well as to promote political
\nequality among all citizens, regardless of their background,
\ngiving them a sense that they are not being left out of a
\nprocess that has in the past been dominated by the elite in
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
Along the way, in parts of the country, local elections did
\nnot go as well as could have been hoped.<\/p>\n
Reports of vote buying, power plays, poll fraud and problems
\nwith voter registration, combined with a lack of accountability
\nand credibility showed by some local elections commissions,
\nsurfaced in media, tarnishing the legitimacy of the long-awaited
\nregional elections.<\/p>\n
The limited time allowed for campaigning -- making it
\ndifficult for voters to truly measure the quality and platforms
\nof the candidates -- as well as a lack of available media outlets
\nto educate the public about substantive campaign issues, were
\namong the factors blamed for the elections' shortcomings.<\/p>\n
Physical clashes occurred in some areas, including in Kaur
\nregency in Bengkulu province, where some 10,000 people went on
\nthe rampage and set fire to government offices and houses in July
\nto express their disappointment with the regency election
\nresults.<\/p>\n
In North Sumatra, a mob attacked the General Elections
\nCommission office in Central Tapanuli regency in October after
\nthe commission refused to allow a candidate for regent contest
\nthe election because of questions over the legitimacy of her high
\nschool diploma. In the city of Sibolga, the election was delayed
\nat the last minute for three days because voter cards had not
\nbeen distributed.<\/p>\n
Another example of the troubles faced by elections was a high
\nprofile case involving a long legal battle in Depok city, near
\nthe capital Jakarta, where one of the political parties that came
\nout on the losing end of the election challenged the results in
\ncourt. In its lawsuit, the losing party claimed the local
\nelections commission had committed violations in implementing the
\nelection process.<\/p>\n
There were also some surprises in the elections. Golkar Party,
\nwhich had been widely tipped to win most of the seats in the
\nelections, and announced its goal of winning 60 percent of the
\nseats in the regional elections, did not do as well as expected.<\/p>\n
For example, in Surabaya, Bambang Dwi Hartono and his running
\nmate Arif Afandi, who were nominated by the Indonesian Democratic
\nParty of Struggle (PDI-P), were elected mayor and deputy mayor.
\nGamawan Fauzi and Marlis Rahman, nominated by the Crescent Star
\nParty (PBB) and the PDI-P, won the gubernatorial election in West
\nSumatra.<\/p>\n
Former regional autonomy minister Ryaas Rasyid told
\nSingapore's New Straits Times that it would be difficult to
\npredict the outcome of the elections. \"Golkar stands a good
\nchance, but it's not a foregone conclusion. The regional
\nelections will be very local and culturally driven. There will be
\na lot of emotional, cultural and ethnic ties between the
\ncandidate and the voters.\"<\/p>\n
Regional elections, he believed, would serve to further
\nembolden the provinces to press the central government for
\nconcessions on a wide range of issues.<\/p>\n
\"After the regional elections, a new pattern of relationship
\nbetween the local and central governments will emerge,\" said
\nRyaas. \"The locally elected leader will consider himself to be
\nmore independent and more predisposed to oppose the central
\ngovernment if its policies are considered to be against the
\ninterests of his community.\"<\/p>\n
With more elections to come, and despite some imperfections in
\nthe polls that have been held, this undertaking -- a learning
\nexperience in its early stages that should be conducted with
\npatience and perseverance -- holds the dreams and ideals of a
\ndemocratic country.<\/p>",
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