High price of democracy

Whatever his background or political affiliation, a man deserves special mention for outstanding performance against pressure from all sides in his capacity as chairman of the General Elections Commission. He has succeeded in defending his personal integrity and keeping his honesty amid protests, demonstrations and the betrayal of him personally. He was able to display diplomacy, tact and firmness at the same time. He was willing to meet and talk with hostile demonstrators protesting the slow pace of his commission's counting of incoming votes.

I believe that if he had collapsed midway, the elections process may have stalled and the process of democracy may have been a failure. There were forces at work that did not want to see the official tally finished by the commission once they realized their parties' showing was not up to expectations.

The man is Rudini. He stood firm when his deputy deserted him before the completion of the commission's task. Commission members once protested fiercely against a statement supposedly made by him -- later retracted -- that he agreed that political parties collecting less than 2 percent of the vote should withdraw from the commission. Then there was an accusation that the commission members accepted kickbacks and were corrupt.

Now that the final tally is to be officially announced, some commission members have said they will refuse to sign the results. Parties failing to get any seat in the next legislature have demanded they should be allocated a seat by virtue of having a representative working for the election commission and for campaigning. They probably compare the members of the Indonesian Military, 38 in total, who will have a seat without doing anything or those to be appointed as members of the People's Consultative Assembly.

According to democratic convention, the party with the most votes should first be given the right to form a government and the losing incumbent should concede defeat. How wonderful it is that nobody here concedes defeat, cynics would argue.

It is regrettable that the incumbent head of state and his supporters are so ambitious to prolong their past mistakes and are so eager to protect those who abused power and accumulated wealth illegally.

GANDHI SUKARDI

Jakarta