Democracy takes root in world's largest Muslim country

Democracy takes root in world's largest Muslim country

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

In a period of less than eight months, Indonesia held this year
an unprecedented three direct elections -- proving the skeptics
wrong in their peaceful process and conclusion -- and heralding a
new era in its political evolution.

First was the nationwide legislative election on April 5,
which 24 political parties contested for a combined total of over
17,000 seats at the House of Representatives, the Regional
Representatives Council and local legislative councils.

Three months later on July 5, voters cast their ballots once
again to choose their leader from among five candidates in the
first direct presidential election -- complete with campaigns of
a distinctly Indonesian flair, featuring dangdut artists and
colorful party T-shirts, and another first, televised debates, or
"dialogs".

With no candidate garnering a clear majority, the stage was
set for an election runoff on Sept. 20 between then incumbent
Megawati Soekarnoputri and her key rival, former security chief
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Right up to the moment the General Elections Commission (KPU)
announced the country's sixth president and vice president,
Susilo and Jusuf Kalla, not a single case of violence was
reported within the eight months of the official election period.

However, in the lead-up to the election year, supporters of
the Golkar Party and Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI-P) clashed following a district Golkar meeting in
northern Bali, killing x and injuring dozens.

Nevertheless, the peaceful and democratic elections was a
noteworthy feat that was lauded internationally, not the least
because the country and its people had only just rid themselves
of a dictatorial regime through the reformasi movement less than
six years earlier.

Under Soeharto's iron-fisted rule, the "electorate" was herded
once every five years to the polling booths under the guise of a
general election to endorse the autocrat's continued reign.

Following the demise of the dictatorship, all hell broke
loose, most visibly as communal and religious conflicts in
several regions. In Maluku and Poso, Central Sulawesi, Muslims
and Christians clashed bloodily, while in West and Central
Kalimantan, native Dayak and migrant Madurese lynched one
another.

The transitions during and after the first democratic
presidential? legislative? election in 1999 were also painful.

Rioting erupted following Megawati's defeat in her bid for the
presidential seat, which was put to the vote in the People's
Consultative Assembly, and PDI-P supporters took the streets and
went on a rampage.

A similar incident occurred when former president Abdurrahman
"Gus Dur" Wahid was impeached by the Assembly the same year, with
his supporters cutting down trees and ransacking the offices of a
political party thought to be responsible for their patron's
ouster.

All the turmoil raised concerns that in Indonesia, where Islam
is the predominant faith, that the religion's values were simply
incompatible with democracy. Firebrand Muslim groups often reject
democracy outright, as they view it as a Western concept.

At the outset, a peaceful election year seemed improbable amid
heightened tension and sporadic violence in several regions, as
well as the undercurrent of possible terror since the Bali
bombings of 2001.

However, voters were enthusiastic and went to the polls in an
orderly, sometimes festive, manner, voting for their preferred
candidates independent of any directives or advice from political
machinery.

Among the indicators of this was the voter turnout: 82 percent
for the legislative election; 78 percent for the first-round
presidential election; and 76 percent for the runoff.

The result of the election also showed that voter preferences
were largely moderate, as the bulk of them voted for nationalism-
oriented parties and the Justice Prosperous Party (PKS) --
considered the standard bearer of Islamic values -- because of
their anticorruption stance.

Analysts have said credit should go to Megawati for drawing up
and conducting a peaceful and fair elections. However, these
analysts have not pointed out Megawati's direct contribution to
the successful election, apart from being the incumbent at the
time.

In fact, Megawati was busy, focusing on her campaign and
traveling extensively throughout the country to woo voters,
sometimes during official visits.

As for the parties, nothing much could be expected from them
in terms of keeping the peace among the electorate, as they had a
tendency to exploit voters' differences of opinion to bolster
their own chances.

The media, on the other hand, which should have played an
indispensable role in educating voters, instead showed a degree
of partiality. A report from the European Union Election
Observation Mission (EU-EOM), for example, revealed that a number
of prominent media were biased in their reporting on presidential
candidates.

Thus, voters were left to their own devices to make an
independent and informed choice, and in the end, surprised the
elite with their political maturity.

Megawati lost her reelection bid with under 40 percent of
votes against more than 60 percent for Susilo, as voters judged
that her administration had delivered nothing significant in its
three years in power as a transitional government from the reform
era toward democratization.

In short, voters had punished her for this gross shortcoming.

"This election demonstrates a very strong popular rejection of
selfish political elites within the political parties," political
observer of the now-defunct Far Eastern Economic Review Michael
Vatikiotis said.

Vatikiotis, who traveled extensively through Java's rural
regions ahead of the runoff, said he found voters at the
grassroots level tolerant and respectful of each other's choices.

A member of the General Elections Supervisory Committee
(Panwaslu), perhaps summed up the election year best: The people
proved their maturity, showing the country and the world that the
nation was ready for democracy.

The peaceful elections has thus shown that at least in
Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world, Islam and
democracy are a natural fit and can coexist in harmony.