Huge problems await next president<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Over 100 million people are expected to flock to hundreds of
\nthousands of polling stations on Monday to cast their votes in
\nthe final round of the country's first-ever direct presidential
\nelection.<\/p>\n
While recognizing Monday's election as a significant milestone
\nin the country's democratization process, experts nevertheless
\nwarned on Sunday against putting too much hope in the next
\npresident.<\/p>\n
Political analyst from the Centre of Strategic and
\nInternational Studies (CSIS) J. Kristiadi said that the two
\ncandidates once worked together and failed to find solutions to
\nthe problems the country was facing.<\/p>\n
\"The problems faced by the country are very difficult to solve
\nand both Megawati and Susilo once worked in the same team
\nattempting to solve these problems, but they failed,\" Kristiadi
\ntold a seminar in Semarang on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Incumbent Megawati Soekarnoputri and four-star retired Army
\ngeneral Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono are contesting Monday's election
\nrunoff. Susilo was Megawati's coordinating minister for political
\nand security affairs before he resigned in March to stand in the
\npresidential election.<\/p>\n
\"People have to work themselves to bring about changes in the
\nlegal, political, economic and other sectors, and I am not being
\npessimistic if I say this. Instead, I'm talking about the facts,\"
\nKristiadi said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Center for Electoral Reform (Cetro) executive
\ndirector Smita Notosusanto said Monday's poll was a critical
\npoint in the country's political life, but further reform would
\ndepend on cooperation between the government, the legislature and
\nthe constitutional court.<\/p>\n
\"Of course, Monday's election will lend legitimacy to the
\nnewly elected leader as the people will have directly voted for
\nhim or her. Even if the people pick the wrong candidate, the
\nprocess has given a lesson on democracy to the country -- a
\nlesson we have learned through experience,\" Smita told The
\nJakarta Post on Sunday.<\/p>\n
A total of 153,312,436 eligible voters are expected to cast
\ntheir votes at over 567,000 polling stations in 32 provinces on
\nMonday.<\/p>\n
The poll, whose results will be announced on Oct. 5, will not
\nonly decide the fate of Megawati and Susilo, but also serve as a
\nlitmus test on whether or not democracy has fully taken root in
\nthe world's largest Muslim country.<\/p>\n
Over 189,000 police and 37,000 military personnel, as well as
\n1.2 million civilian security auxiliaries, have been deployed to
\nensure security during the election, held less than two weeks
\nafter a powerful bomb blast killed at least ten people in
\nKuningan, South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The Susilo-Kalla ticket, which has topped virtually all the
\npre-election opinion surveys, has promised to bring about change
\nin the country, which has been plagued by a slow recovery from
\nthe economic crisis of 1997.<\/p>\n
The ticket, however, has been very short on concrete programs
\nfor change, leaving the voters mostly in the dark as to what they
\nintend to do.<\/p>\n
Megawati and her running mate Hasyim Muzadi, on the other
\nhand, has promised to complete the unfinished programs of the
\npresent government.<\/p>\n
Many analysts have pointed their fingers at Megawati for
\nfailing to resolve bloody religious conflicts in Poso, Central
\nSulawesi and Ambon, and secessionist problems in Aceh and Papua
\nprovinces. She has also been accused of dragging her feet in
\nfighting against corruption.<\/p>\n
\"There is only one parameter to determine whether or not the
\nelection has brought about changes in Indonesia, and that is
\nwhether or not the three institutions can carry out their duties
\nin line with their respective roles,\" said Smita.<\/p>\n
\"The checks-and-balances principle should be implemented in
\nthe relationship between the legislature and the government. The
\nConstitutional Court itself has been granted the power to impeach
\nthe president should he or she fail to uphold the state
\nguidelines. So, let's just see whether this process will run
\nsmoothly,\" she said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/huge-problems-await-next-president-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}