Direct presidential election 'is okay'

Direct presidential election 'is okay'

BANDUNG (JP): Noted Muslim intellectual Nurcholish Madjid said
here on Tuesday that Indonesian people are culturally and
socially ready for direct presidential elections, suitably to be
held in 2004.

Speaking at a one-day seminar on Direct Presidential Election,
Nurcholish refuted many beliefs that it was not the right time
for Indonesians to elect a president directly.

"Direct election is the pattern of democracy which is the most
democratic and basically, our people are democratic," he said,
referring to the 1999 election, when Abdurrahman Wahid was
elected president.

The reality was that the people accepted the ballot counting
without protest. "They cast the ballots and counted them
together."

"However, chaos erupted in some areas, including Surakarta and
Bali, when the People's Consultative Assembly held the
presidential elections," Nurcholish said. "Because people were
disappointed that Megawati Soekarnoputri, who was from the
political party which won in the general elections (was not
elected president)."

Abdurrahman was elected president, whereas he led no single
political party at the time.

Megawati is the chairperson of Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI-P), which won the 1999 General Elections.

According to Nurcholish, the furor was due to the president
being elected through indirect elections. "This triggered
political games by the political elite in the Assembly, which --
psychologically -- was against people's just feelings.

"If the president had been elected through direct elections,
the followers of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
would not have been that frustrated. There would have been no
political maneuvers," he said.

The direct presidential election idea was accepted by all
factions at the Assembly's conclusion at the Ad Hoc I Committee
on May 26, 2000, he said. "But legal approval is to be given by
the Assembly's General Session on Aug. 18."

Another speaker at the seminar, Andi Mallarangeng said that
direct presidential elections could minimize or eliminate social
conflict.

"Our people are politically more mature than the political
elite. The people are now concerned about fairness not winning or
losing in the elections," said the political observer. (25/sur)