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 It is no longer valid to mention the military-civilian dichotomy because out of all of the governors to have governed the capital city, only Ali Sadikin, a marine lieutenant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.