Election jitters

With 17 days remaining in the countdown to the election campaign, the country is already gripped with election fever. The campaign does not officially begin until April 27, but the preparations by the three groups contesting in the May 29 general election and the extensive media coverage given to their activities have heightened the political temperature in this country.

Whether intended or not, these preparations often smack of electioneering. The line dividing preparations and campaigning is becoming thinner as the election campaign period nears. Some of the jitters, unfortunately, have turned into violence, as we have seen in Pekalongan and a number of other towns in Central Java.

Everybody is involved in politicking these days.

The anniversary parties of the United Development Party (PPP) in some towns in Java, held three months after the actual anniversary date, are clearly designed to make a maximum impact on voters close to the election date. The Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) has been doing the same, although with lesser intensity.

The "paint-it-yellow' campaign in Surakarta and other Central Java cities, and the ensuing "color war" by the three contestants in the province are sources of election jitters. The erection of party flags and banners in strategic spots in various towns, and the removal by their opponents, is another source.

And there are the highly publicized meetings by Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, Golkar's deputy chairperson and eldest daughter of President Soeharto, with supporters of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) in rural Central Java and East Java. PPP chairman Ismail Hasan Metareum has accused NU chairman Abdurrahman Wahid of trying to "deflate" PPP ahead of the election, by bringing Hardiyanti to areas that have been strongholds of PPP.

The security forces are commendable for showing tolerance and restraint in the face of this politicking. To stop or intervene in these activities when the nation is gripped with election fever could be construed as depriving people of their democratic rights or preventing election contestants from reaching out to their supporters. The task of the security forces is to ensure that these activities do not get out of hand and that everyone plays by the rules. Only when these activities threaten to disrupt peace, should they move in to preempt violence.

Admittedly, this is easier said than done. Predicting where violence will erupt next is difficult. Ultimately, it is the leaders of the three election contestants who should control their supporters.

The outbreak of violence in Pekalongan that we have seen these past three weeks had its origins in the contest for territorial control between Golkar and PPP. It began when Golkar, with the support of local authorities, replaced the flags and banners of PPP with Golkar's own. To cap PPP's anger, Golkar brought in one of its popular "vote getters", famous Dang Dut singer Rhoma Irama, to perform in a Golkar meeting. Rhoma, a one-time PPP campaigner, has switched allegiance to the dominant political group and is running for a seat in the House of Representatives.

The PPP has washed its hands of the Pekalongan violence and the authorities have refrained from squarely blaming PPP for the riots. But there is no denying that Golkar and PPP created the tension in the first place that eventually led to the violence.

Local authorities, too, have had a hand in creating some of the tension, by playing favoritism. This was apparent in Pekalongan, and was blatant in Surakarta when they launched the "paint-it-yellow" campaign.

As we enter a delicate period in the run up to the May 29 election, the Pekalongan violence has left us wondering whether this is a taste of things to come. We certainly hope not. But this means everyone involved, the contesting parties and local administrations, must act responsibly and refrain from actions that could give rise to violence. The election system and the rules that the contestants have agreed upon may contain imperfections and shortcomings, but they must be fully observed if the nation wants to prevent the election from turning into violence.