Slow boat to democracy<\/p>\n
The painfully slow ballot-counting process has dampened, if
\nnot entirely killed, the enthusiasm people showed when the nation
\nvoted on Monday in its first democratic polls in four decades.
\nThat enthusiasm initially turned into frustration, and then
\napprehension amid concerns that the delay would open room for
\nmanipulation of the results in favor of certain parties. It is
\njust one step short of turning into rage if the allegations prove
\nto be true, or if the results fail to reflect people's
\nexpectations.<\/p>\n
That fear is not totally unfounded, even after assurances from
\nthe General Elections Commission that the transparency of the
\nvote-counting process makes it foolproof against manipulation. It
\nis founded on the experience of the past six elections, in which
\nGolkar justified all means to ensure landslide victories. Since
\nGolkar is still participating in these elections, and since many
\nof the local administrators involved in the vote-counting process
\nremain loyal to Golkar, one only needs to put two and two
\ntogether to justify concerns that Golkar loyalists may somehow
\ncircumvent the system to rig the outcome.<\/p>\n
The delay in announcing the provisional results forced many
\npeople, including foreign observers monitoring the polls, to
\nqualify their earlier praises that Monday's polling had proceeded
\nin a free and fair fashion. Their final verdict must now wait
\nuntil after the final results are known. Whatever judgments they
\npass, Indonesia has lost the chance of using Monday's monumental
\nevent as the turning point for the building of the world's third-
\nlargest democracy.<\/p>\n
It remains to be seen whether Indonesia can seize back that
\nmomentum once the election results are known. We still have
\nseveral other stages, and four or five months to pass, before we
\ncan form a credible and democratically elected government.<\/p>\n
But as we patiently wait for the outcome of the elections,
\nthere are disturbing signs that could threaten the democratic
\nprocess. Local independent monitoring committees are reporting
\nthousands of violations committed by political parties during and
\npreceding Monday's vote. They may be minor offenses, but they add
\nup to a lot, enough for anyone, who for one reason or another
\ndislikes the election results, to use as a pretext for not
\nendorsing the vote.<\/p>\n
In fact, a number of political parties have already threatened
\nnot to endorse the election results at the local level in some
\nregions, which explains at least partly the delays for the vote
\ncounts reaching the national level. Since the election result is
\nvalid if endorsed by at least two-thirds of the 48 parties
\ncontesting it, then it only takes 17 parties to band together and
\nderail the entire process. If this could happen at the local
\nlevel, it could easily happen at the national level.<\/p>\n
The small parties who find themselves without any significant
\nsupport after all the votes are counted are the ones most likely
\nto refuse to endorse the election results. But with the reports
\nof rampant cheating and violations, some of the larger parties
\nmight also be tempted to jump on the bandwagon and refuse to sign
\nthe results of the election. If that happens, then the entire
\nelection process would be derailed, with all the unimaginable
\nconsequences it could bring for this nation.<\/p>\n
As we have said before, the road to democracy is indeed long
\nand perilous. A lot depends on the nation's leaders. On Monday,
\nthe majority of the people in this country showed that they could
\nplay by the rules of the game of democracy. That day passed with
\ncalm and order prevailing, a great tribute to the people more
\nthan to any others. It is now very much up to the nation's
\nleaders, in the government and in the political parties, to show
\nthat they deserve the trust and the mandate of the people in
\nruling the country. Looking at the behavior of most of our
\nleaders, they seem to be falling way, way behind their own people
\nin embracing democracy.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/slow-boat-to-democracy-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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