A brief respite

A brief respite

We can all breathe a sigh of relief that the official election
campaign has finally come to an end. Relief not only because the
past 17 days have been relatively free from the widespread
violence, but also because we can all get back to our normal
routines. The campaign period may have brought a festive mood for
some, but to most people it was very disruptive.

The campaign period has had its share of casualties too. Early
this week, police said it recorded 174 campaign-related deaths.
Most died in traffic accidents, which is not surprising given
that traffic laws were violated by party campaigners. Some were
killed in clashes between supporters of different parties. But
these clashes were sporadic and not as widespread as many of us
had dreaded.

The casualty figure is low by Indonesian standards,
particularly considering incidents of violent unrest in several
parts of the country in the months preceding the official
campaign period. Sectarian conflicts in Ambon (Maluku) and Sambas
(West Kalimantan), precampaign clashes between supporters of
different political parties in Jepara and Pekalongan (Central
Java) and in Buleleng (Bali), plus the turbulent campaign in the
last election in 1997 raised the specter of a violent period when
the official campaign period began on May 19. It was frightening
enough for the government to move summer school holidays forward
by one month, for the military and police to deploy their forces
in full, and for many wealthy Indonesians to seek temporary safe
haven abroad.

While we may take pride in having disproved our own fears, we
can hardly be proud about the quality or substance of the
election campaign in promoting political communication between
politicians and the masses. Our politicians may have succeeded in
creating a carnival mood, but they failed to reach out to the
masses, particularly in conveying their vision and message. The
only real message to have come out of the campaign monologues and
dialogs broadcast by all TV stations every day was that Indonesia
has few politicians with the vision and communication skills
necessary to lead the country. But at least we know the
challenges facing us, and this is something to consider in future
elections.

Given the irrelevance of the campaign in terms of promoting
political communication, one wonders whether it was really
necessary to have a campaign period, with all the security risks
it entailed. Campaigning however, is an inseparable part of the
electoral process, a process we have to go through every time we
conduct a general election. Since we all agree that a democratic
general election is important in establishing a legitimate and
credible government, we have no choice but to follow the entire
process. What we have to do is eliminate, or at least minimize,
the likelihood of violence.

While the campaign stage passed in relative peace and calm,
there are still several other phases to go through. Each of these
will be equally prone to violence, if not more, especially as the
election process builds to a climax with the presidential
election in November.

There is still the question of whether the elections will be
free and fair. Violations of rules by just about every major
party during the campaign period, allegations of money politics,
and the inability of the General Elections Commission to stop the
violations, let alone punish the errant parties, have raised
serious doubts that the elections will be free and fair, even
with the strong presence of foreign observers.

There is the question of whether the election results, once
announced, will be accepted by the public, particularly by the
losing parties, irrespective of whether the elections were free
and fair. There is the question of the kind of coalition forces
that will emerge in the House of Representatives, and whether
they will be acceptable to the public, and more importantly,
whether the coalition will be workable and sustainable. Finally,
there is the November General Session of the People's
Consultative Assembly to elect a president, and the question of
whether that process will be fair and whether the elected
president will have the public's support.

The road to democracy is long and perilous. But it is the only
road leading to the establishment of a legitimate and credible
government, which this country so desperately needs if it ever
wants to get out of the crisis. We have to take that road no
matter what, and deal with risks as they happen.