Final list of candidates can trigger conflicts

Final list of candidates can trigger conflicts

Philips J Vermonte, Researcher, Centre for Strategic
and International Studies (CSIS), Jakarta

Next week, the nation will enter another, potentially
explosive, phase in the preparations for the 2004 election. On
Jan. 27, the General Election Commission (KPU) will make public
the final list of eligible legislative candidates. As there is
the potential for violence during this phase, all concerned
parties need to be cautious to ensure it passes safely.

In fact, violent incidents have already taken place in several
places across the country since the tentative lists of candidates
were made public earlier this month.

The violence was first and foremost caused by the blatant fact
that political parties, especially the parties that have existed
since the New Order period, failed to prove to their grassroots
members that they had adopted a more democratic way of
accommodating local aspirations in the preparation of their
respective lists.

Many party leaders as well as party members at the local level
were frustrated to find out that their favorite local politicians
did not appear on the temporary list of candidates submitted by
the central board of the parties to the KPU last month. Feeling
betrayed by the party leadership at the higher level, the
frustrated local members protested, which in many cases led to
outbreaks of violence.

Angry party members in Medan (North Sumatra), Kuningan (West
Java), Banyuwangi, Situbondo, Surabaya (East Java) and several
other places expressed their anger in many ways, including the
burning of party posters and even attacking their own party
offices (The Jakarta Post, Jan.6, 2004).

The incidents have shown us a simple fact that our political
parties have failed to understand the fundamental logic behind a
direct election, which is to accommodate the aspirations of
people at the local level. When the party leaders ignore the
logic, they can expect more anger from their own members at the
local level.

Another source of frustration on the part of party activists
is that many party leaders are still engaged in nepotism, with
many family members showing up on lists, often at the expense of
far more qualified local candidates. Also, there have been cases
where party leaders nominated candidates who are completely
unknown to the local people they potentially are going to
represent.

It is quite disappointing to see that current party leaders
underestimate the intellectual capacity and commitment of today's
voters in general, and of course their own party members in
particular, to understand and react to such foolish acts of
nepotism.

Next week's announcement by the KPU may also be followed by
clashes and protests for another reason. Violent incidents are
likely to occur if the lists of the legislative candidates
submitted by the political parties does not meet the high
expectations of the nation, who now strongly desire competent
candidates with clean and reliable track records.

Particularly, candidates with no record of corruption or human
rights abuses. Nepotism might sideline otherwise far more
competent candidates from the list, only to be replaced by
incompetent persons with negative track records.

If competent people are not even nominated, resentment, not
only among party activists, but also among all the undecided
voters at various levels, will certainly grow. One instance of
such a strong reaction resulting from such resentment took place
last week in Central Kalimantan. In Palangkaraya, the capital
city of the province, several local civil society organizations,
which were declaring the Movement against Decadent Politicians,
clashed with local police.

Other reason why we have to be very cautious about the final
list of legislative candidates is the issue of representation.
Ideally, direct elections should create more opportunities for
local politicians to compete in the election. Their main source
of support would understandably come from the people who know
them best -- those who share a similar background, be it
religious or ethnic.

We know that this country is extremely diverse in terms of
religion and ethnicity, even within some provinces and regencies.
If the final list of legislative candidates overlooks the issue
of religious and socio-cultural representation, local activists
may react very strongly.

In this case, nepotism by national party leaders can once
again be pointed out as a source of the problem since it can ruin
the process of finding a delicate balance of representation
carried out by local or regional party leaders.

Therefore, to prevent violence, the following things are
imperative: First, political party leaders must see it as good
news and must understand that their grassroots members, and
equally important our civil society today, now have a greatly
increased political awareness.

Moreover, the rank-and-file voters possess a stronger
commitment to have a more democratic party system. Nepotism and
any undemocratic internal decisions made by political party
central boards from now on must be treated as obsolete and
unpopular ways of doing business.

Second, the KPU and the Election Monitoring Committee
(Panwaslu) need to be bold enough to exercise the new authority
they possess to impose necessary measures in order to prevent any
violent conflicts from occurring during the election, including
the phase following the announcement of the final list of
legislative candidates next week.

Third, political parties, including the leaders and grassroots
members, must respect the rule of law and make every effort to
find a more peaceful way to resolve internal conflicts.
Mobilizing mobs to win an internal battle for power within their
party will almost certainly lead to a violent conflict.

Such mob mobilization also poses the dangerous threat of
escalation and retaliation to a more serious conflict
encompassing a wider swath of society. And finally, security
personnel, in this case the police, have a crucial role in
dealing with the conflicts when they occur, and they must
understand that firmness and neutrality are the key words.

The writer is also active in People's Coalition for Peaceful
Election.