Democracy and power
Being one of the fledgling democracies in the world, Indonesia's general elections got a thumbs up from many countries. Beginning from the first-ever direct legislative elections in April last year to the direct presidential election, all went off successfully and peacefully.
Following that, more direct elections were held for governors, regents and mayors, and they too were peacefully staged. What we see as a shortcoming was only the party leaders' willingness or commitment to educating their supporters on democracy. So far, we have not heard the losers in these contests accepting defeat and congratulating the winner, and that includes the 2004 presidential election, when the incumbent Megawati Soekarnoputri lost but failed to congratulate the winner, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the current President of the country.
Such an education on democracy for the people by party leaders, academics, and intellectuals is a matter of urgency in order that they, in the future, will accept not only defeat, but also arguments and opinions of others. Lacking such education could create chaos.
The latest case of reluctance to accept defeat is seen in the high-profile Depok mayoral election dispute, when the incumbent mayor Badrul Kamal from the largest party, Golkar, based on the Supreme Court's ruling, was finally defeated (after the June election) by Nur Mahmudi Ismail from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS). It created a leadership vacuum in Depok for the past six months.
One might recall the United States' election case when the Democratic Party's contender Al Gore was defeated after a lengthy (six weeks) legal dispute with the current President George W. Bush of the Republican Party in the 2000 general election. The difference is that after the final court rulings were decided, Al Gore immediately congratulated George Bush, so that all Americans sighed with relief because the lengthy legal battle was finally over, despite the fact that Gore was the incumbent vice president during the Clinton administration.
Having similar cases like in the above mentioned U.S. election, the six-month legal battle here involving Badrul Kamal should have been over when the Supreme court made its decision, that is, if the Golkar Party leaders had taught their candidates the meaning of true democracy. Badrul must stop struggling further as the Supreme Court chief Bagir Manan said "a case review according to the law can only be done once" (The Jakarta Post, Dec. 20). Failure to do that would only reflect the thirst of power both from parties' rank and file, as well as the candidates themselves.
M. RUSDI Jakarta