Kiss and make up

Indonesia made history on Monday, yet most people probably don't know it.

The country held the final round of its first-ever direct presidential election. The system is not perfect, but it was quite democratic. But what is even more significant is the fact that the election proceeded in an orderly and peaceful manner.

Indonesians deserve to pat themselves on the back, for showing, to ourselves more than to anybody else, that we can hold a democratic and peaceful election. For a nation that has lived through a prolonged spell of violence in recent years, this is quite an achievement.

Just 12 days ago, a powerful car bomb exploded outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, killing nine people and injuring dozens of others. This was only the latest in a series of deadly terrorist attacks that this nation has had to live with.

Violence has become part of the daily lives of people in Aceh and Papua, two provinces where separatist rebels have been waging low-intensity guerrilla campaigns. There is also the seemingly never-ending communal violence in Maluku and in the Central Sulawesi district of Poso.

Given this background, it is no wonder that many observers, both local and foreign, feared that the election could have been marred by disturbances, as often happens in other countries like India. But what they have overlooked is that none of the violence mentioned above was related to the electoral process.

The 1999 general election, the first time that this nation held a truly democratic poll in over four decades, went smoothly despite gloomy predictions of unrest. The general election in April this year went without a hitch, and likewise, the first- round presidential election in July was trouble-free.

Surely, by this stage we should all realize that violence is not part and parcel of the electoral process. It never is, unless someone decides to turn the election into a violent arena for a war of his own making.

The threat of violent disruption is most likely to come from one of the candidates, or his or her die-hard supporters.

It is therefore comforting to hear that both candidates on the eve of Monday's final round openly stated that they would respect the outcome of the election, come what may.

In the run-up to Monday's election, the candidates, or rather their campaign managers, had been trading accusations that at times bordered on character assassination. Some may argue that "negative campaigning" has become an inevitable part of election strategies in Indonesia. But Susilo's rise to popularity over the past year shows that such strategies can also backfire.

The roles played by the two candidates therefore are important if we want to maintain the peace and stability that have accompanied this year's election process so far. Their pledges to respect the results, while welcome, may not be sufficient.

At this crucial stage of the process, as we wait for the General Elections Commission to complete the vote count and tabulation, the two candidates should quickly bury the hatchet and reconcile. They should do this in public so that their supporters will also do the same.

In a two-horse election race such as the one we have just witnessed, the nation was divided into two camps. It was not only the candidates who were slugging it out in the run-up to Monday's election. The divisions between the two camps go all the way down to the grassroots level.

Both Megawati and Susilo should now start doing their best to restrain their die-hard supporters and make sure that they don't resort to violence when the final results are announced.

At the end of the day, the two candidates and their supporters must realize that as far as the public at large are concerned, elections are not so much about winning as they are about what is best for the nation. The people, by casting their votes on Monday, have made their decision. Let's leave it at that.