Election jitters

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.