Fair elections<\/p>\n
Reports in The Jakarta Post from Nov. 11 to Nov. 15 hinted
\nthat Indonesia's upcoming elections will not be free and fair,
\nand will not allow all Indonesians to express their political
\naspirations peacefully at the ballot box.<\/p>\n
A truly democratic system is very simple. It allows anyone to
\nrun for office; all representatives serve the same number of
\nconstituents, and votes are counted accurately. If Indonesia
\nadopted these simple rules, it could be a model for the rest of
\nthe world.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the leaders of Indonesia's current one-party
\ngovernment appear to be designing an electoral system that will
\nreduce competition, and keep themselves in power.<\/p>\n
According to the Nov. 11 Post, potential candidate will need
\nto gather 300,000 signatures before they can run for office. If
\nIndonesia has 200 million people, and 400 districts, and half the
\npeople are too young to vote, a winning candidate would need only
\n125,001 votes, in a two-candidate race, to be elected.<\/p>\n
If May 1999 has elections that are widely seen as unfair, the
\npublic reaction could be stronger than in May 1998.<\/p>\n
For peace, safety and confidence in the economy, Indonesia
\ndesperately needs to have fair elections.<\/p>\n
CHRISTY LANZL<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/fair-elections-1447899208", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }