Basofi's East Java gamble

Basofi's East Java gamble

At last the protracted conflict within the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) has proved fatal. East Java's Governor Basofi Sudirman has left vacant the seats reserved for the party in the provincial electoral committee which he installed last Monday.

The PDI, under the leadership of Megawati, has never lacked trouble, owing to internal rifts and factors put into play by "the invisible hand". Megawati's leadership is faced with the challenge of eliminating the seeds of discord. Simply relying on the charisma of the Sukarno name is not enough. Megawati must prove her mettle as an administrator and as a seasoned politician. Without such competence she will always be rocked by trouble.

On the other hand, it would be appropriate for the government -- in this case Basofi Sudirman -- to use the legality approach in handling the muddle within the PDI in East Java. This means that Basofi should respect the party's decisions. A provincial political patron cannot annul a party's decisions merely because some people who lost a contest come to him with reports of irregularities and form rival party boards.

If political patrons foster this attitude they will never be successful in helping mature democracy in Indonesia. Our politicians must accept defeat gallantly. There must be no more "invisible hand" caressing politicians who form rival bodies after being defeated.

In the case of the East Java chapter of PDI we hope Basofi will stick to the legality principle. To prolong the discord will be most detrimental to the government's authority as the country's political patron.

It must be remembered that the political catastrophes which have occurred in a number of countries materialized when the people began to question the credibility of general elections. And the credibility of the upcoming general election will indeed be put at stake if PDI representatives are excluded from the provincial electoral committee.

-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta