Democracy in Indonesia the pride of Muslims

Democracy in Indonesia the pride of Muslims

The Korea Herald, Asia News Network, Seoul

Just as Korea has proved, through its political progress over
the last few decades, that there is no inherent conflict between
Asian Confucianism and democracy, Indonesians are about to beat
another myth that democracy cannot prosper in the Muslim world.
As vote counting continues across the archipelago of more than
13,000 islands after Monday's balloting, the 210 million
Indonesians must feel proud in that they have finally stepped
into democratic rule by holding their first direct presidential
election in history without serious troubles.

It was a run-off vote between the incumbent Megawati
Soekarnoputri, daughter of the republic's founding father
Sukarno, and her challenger, retired general Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono. Susilo, who had won the first round of elections in
July but failed to garner an overall majority, is again leading
with a big margin. A final tally will be made after two weeks.

The Indonesian elections must also have inspired the Bush
administration and the U.S. military authorities in Iraq, as well
as officials of the interim Iraqi government who are now
preparing for general elections in the country next January. A
group of Iraqis who came to Jakarta to monitor the elections say
they were convinced the "democratic steps taking place in
Indonesia" can also be implemented in their own country.

No major election-related violence was reported throughout the
country on voting day and in the run-up to the second round
ballot, except for a suicide bombing at the Australian Embassy in
Jakarta which killed nine people. An al-Qaeda-linked terrorist
network was blamed for the incident and two other deadly bombing
attacks in the past two years.

Susilo, who resigned as the senior minister for security in
March to run for the presidential election, was credited for
tough measures to crack down on terrorist agents. His military
background gave him an advantage as many Indonesians are looking
for a strong leader who can push political and economic reforms
and protect them from terror threats. He also campaigned with a
pledge to bring the powerful armed forces under civilian control.

Megawati, who first served as vice president under President
Abdurrahman Wahid and was chosen as president in parliament in
2001 after the aged cleric was impeached for incompetence, has
done much to stabilize the economy and government of the world's
largest Muslim nation.

But her popularity has declined among the lower class, the
main supporters of her Democratic Party of Struggle, as she is
seen to have sided with the military, political and business
elites, especially since she teamed up with the largest political
party, Golkar, in a coalition.

The election was thus a contest of personality and image
rather than of policies. Still, it was considered as the final
stage in a peaceful transition to democracy after years of
political fluidity that began with the collapse of Soeharto's
dictatorship in 1998. Indonesia's move into the community of
democracies will dramatically change the political map of the
globe, which has continuously broadened the domain of liberal
democracy since the 1980s in Asia, Latin America and East Europe.

As the world is poised to fight the worst form of terrorism in
human history originating unfortunately from authoritarian Muslim
society, it is commonly recognized that free democratic rule is
the best deterrent against the evil forces, even without the
logic of the supporters of the current U.S. campaign in Iraq. In
this trying time, Indonesians are inspiring great hope in all
peace-loving people of the world.