Elected for the people?

Elected for the people?

At least nine individuals have registered their candidacy for
Jakarta governor with the secretariat of the Jakarta Council to
replace incumbent Sutiyoso, whose term ends in October. Many
parties have voiced opposition to Sutiyoso's reelection due to
his ubiquitous failures, especially his inability to foresee and
prevent the devastating flood that inundated Jakarta in February.

Many may welcome the emergence of new gubernatorial
candidates, feeling that the city is in need of meaningful
change. At the very least we can all hope that it will end the
dominance of the military in the capital city, which started in
the 1950s. The present-day reality demonstrates to foreign
countries that Indonesia is still under military dictatorship. It
is no longer valid to mention the military-civilian dichotomy
because out of all of the governors to have governed the capital
city, only Ali Sadikin, a marine lieutenant general, did so
successfully. He was in turn loved by his people.

However, many others regard the registration of gubernatorial
candidates as a mere formality because only the City Council has
the right to elect a governor, and it is only natural that party
factions in the council would nominate their own candidates.

The new regulation on gubernatorial elections, which was
passed by the council on Monday and limits public involvement in
the electoral process, is a mere show of democracy.

In the minds of the councillors, the new system is a good way
to find the best figure to govern the capital city of 10 million
people. The regulation, they say, is a result of comparative
studies held in the provinces of North Sulawesi and the newly
formed province of Bangka-Belitung, in southern Sumatra. Each
faction, according to the new system, can nominate a candidate
for governor and deputy governor. Any incumbent governor or
regent or mayor, as long as he or she is endorsed by the council
of his or her region, can also run. In the case of an active
governor, a green light from the head of state is also required.

So, what's new with the latest system, which appears to be a
product of the reform era? Perhaps very little is new because
opens the possibility of money politics and horse-trading, which
was a trademark of the old system. More importantly, there is no
possibility of public participation in the new system.

The idea of holding a direct gubernatorial election, as
proposed by non-governmental organizations, has been shamefully
ignored. And there is no chance of the subdistrict councils
(Dewan Kelurahan) -- which have been the pride of the city
because they were democratically elected -- to channel the
people's aspirations.

Article 24 of the regulation states that the council may
accept complaints against an elected governor from the public,
but they should be filed through leaders of registered
organizations within three days after the election.

The public's opportunity to report money politics is even more
limited as Article 27 states that the council will decide whether
the complaint is valid if it is accompanied by written
testimonies from more than one councillor.

For many Jakarta citizens, a drastic change in the
gubernatorial election is imperative because the people want to
see change. Not one of the six military governors who ruled
Jakarta in the past were democratically elected -- all of them
were appointed during the despotic Soeharto regime -- and only
Ali Sadikin was capable. The rest did not count for much, and the
people had no right to voice their grievances.

Since the problem of the gubernatorial election is a national
issue the House of Representatives should revamp the old laws,
which are anathema to the spirit of reform and democracy.
Aspiring for direct gubernatorial elections is not a pipe dream
-- after all, the government recently accepted a demand by the
separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) to hold a general and
gubernatorial election in the restive province in 2004.