Healthy political culture

Healthy political culture

From Media Indonesia

Recent political developments are disappointing as they demonstrate an unhealthy political culture laden with intrigue and character assassination of one's political foes in an unfair attempt to win support from the public.

Amid the hullabaloo on the national stage, which shows a strong potential for conflict, politicians out there maneuvering should engage in fair competition if they want to win the public's support. A healthy political culture means a good example is set for voters, focusing on the issues not personalities. They should also not provoke elements of the community for short-term political gain.

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle has again named Megawati Soekarnoputri as its presidential nominee for the presidential race. All parties must exercise their wisdom regarding this matter and should refrain from attempting to block support for Megawati by focusing too much on the negative -- character assassination or criticism of her leadership.

Megawati's political opponents must be fair when competing with her. Let the public freely make up their mind about who they will elect as their leader in the future.

We hope the upcoming presidential election will run peacefully and democratically.

A. IBRAHIM

Jakarta