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Editorial-Election-Indonesia
Voting day lessons
JP/6/6EDIT-07

Message delivered

With only around one percent of ballots tallied as of
yesterday evening (Tuesday, April 6), it may seem premature at
this early stage to comment on the lessons that Monday's
legislative election convey -- to the nation and to the world,
but most importantly, to the players involved in this
quinquennial "feast of democracy." And yet, a number of
circumstances have already emerged, bearing a message that the
party politicians would do well to heed.

The first point, is that the message embodies a double
phenomenon of the upsurge of votes garnered by the Prosperous
Justice Party (PKS), and the noteworthy performance displayed by
the Democratic Party of former Coordinating Minister of Political
Affairs and Security, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Of course, PKS's
performance this time around as compared to 1999 (when they were
known as PK) does not entirely come as a surprise. The party,
riding a swell of popular discontent over the current
government's apparent lack of sincerity in its promise to wipe
out corruption and injustice, did quite well indeed during the
campaigning period as the numbers indicate so far.

According to the early results released by the General
Elections Commission on Tuesday evening, PKS has a little over 11
percent of the total, on the first full day of counting in a
number of areas nationwide. Unlike PKS, which has been in
existence for around six years, and surely would have been able
to strengthen its support network and experience in that time,
Yudhoyono's Democratic Party lacks any record of earlier
performance whatsoever. It was created almost overnight, just
over a year ago, apparently as a vehicle especially designed to
launch the former security chief into political orbit. With
almost 12 percent of votes as of Tuesday evening, the Democratic
Party is doing startlingly well for a party in its infancy.

Although some political analysts predicted that neither of
these two parties would be able to accumulate anywhere close to
10 percent, their performance sends out a clear message that
Indonesians have had enough of corruption and injustice, and that
many of them yearn for a change to a strong and decisive
leadership to steer the nation out of its present problems. Many
analysts believe that PKS could have done even better if it did
not insist on clinging to its devout Islamist roots -- a subject
it rarely mentions publicly these days, but also never
repudiated.

What this message conveys is the clear warning that the major
governing parties -- such as the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI-P), Golkar, the National Awakening Party (PKB), the
United Development Party (PPP) and the National Mandate Party
(PAN) -- could well have much of their power eroded, unless they
mend their ways and start getting serious results when it comes
to eradicating injustice and corruption and by establishing good
governance to improve the common people's lot in this potentially
rich country.

Amid all this, the barrage of criticism aimed at the General
Elections Commission (KPU) deserves to be mentioned. It is, of
course, true that many things concerning the elections went awry
in the past few weeks; ballots destined for Region A were sent to
Region B. Region C did not get any ballot papers at all, etc.
Confusion about how to vote continued well into election day --
an understandable complication considering that this was the
first direct election of individual legislators held in
Indonesia. The list of foul-ups and errors could go on forever.

Yet, anyone who is familiar with the complexities of this vast
archipelago should appreciate the difficulties the KPU was faced
with and is still facing. Indonesia is a country of superlatives.
Its population of approximately 210 million is spread over more
than 17,000 islands, big and small. Mountain chains, a difficult
terrain and lack of traveling means and infrastructure are
keeping many regions isolated, even in this modern age. Given
those obstacles, the KPU has actually done an admirable job
getting to most of those areas, or practically all with a few
exceptions, to supply voters with the necessary voting materials.
Moreover, the confusion and the delays that made many voters
anxious over the last week or so, are not the fault of the
General Elections Commission alone. The House of Representatives,
for one, could have made the Commission's job much easier had it
finished deliberating the General Elections Bill on time.

In conclusion, the maturity and the good sense which the
citizenry displayed on election day deserves comment. The
unforeseen and excellent support of the PKS and the Democratic
Party -- at the expense, no doubt, of certain established parties
-- and the peaceful and orderly process of the voting on Monday
is proof that the Indonesian electorate is not as naive as many
politicians seem to assume. Let that be a warning for the
political elite in this country to take the Indonesian electorate
seriously and stop making promises they do not intend to keep.