KPU's obligation
Was the decision to hold the general election this coming Monday too hastily made after all? Or is ineptitude on the part of the General Elections Commission (KPU) and the central and regional elections committees it oversees to blame for the many hitches which have prevented smooth preparations for the polls? Irrelevant, perhaps, but this is the question many people are asking as they learn about the increasing number of things which have gone wrong in poll preparations, with the general election now only three days away.
Thousands of ballots have been misprinted, lost or damaged. Ballot boxes do not meet prescribed standards. A little water erases the indelible that is supposed to prevent people from voting two or three times. In several regions in the country, poll watchers are being intimidated and occasionally assaulted. Brawls between party supporters continue and charges of attempts to buy votes appear to go unchecked. The list could go on -- a sorry state of affairs for what is being billed as the most critical general election in contemporary Indonesian history.
Returning to the original question, the most likely answer is probably a little of both. In the wake of the sudden downfall of Soeharto's autocratic and corrupt New Order regime on May 21 last year, it was clear to most Indonesians that if the country was to surmount the crippling economic and political crises, a clean and credible government was needed to clean up the bureaucratic, economic, financial and political mess that Soeharto's fall exposed.
Hence the decision to move forward the date of the elections, which were originally slated for 2002, to June 7 this year. The country had less than a year to prepare for the ballot. Even though Indonesia held six general elections during the more than 30 years of New Order rule, this time the vote was to be held under new rules totally unfamiliar to most Indonesians.
The independent General Elections Commission was set up and all 48 political parties -- all but three established under hastily passed legislation -- were represented on the commission. Not a bad start under the circumstances, but criticism of the commission began almost as soon as it was born. Members started bickering over the size of their honorary fees and other benefits they were to receive. Then, commission members insisted that as party members they should be allowed to campaign for their respective parties, while at the same time demanding Cabinet ministers be barred from doing the same.
The commission also chose to ignore charges made by the public that it violated not only its own rules, but also the country's law on elections. For example, it unilaterally extended the voter registration deadline, the deadline for the submission of lists of party candidates for the national and regional legislatures and the deadline for political parties to reach interparty vote sharing agreements.
To many observers, all this may seem rather immaterial considering the nation's inexperience with democracy and the severe time constraint faced by the General Elections Commission and the elections committees. However, maintaining its credibility in the eyes of the public is an important obligation the commission must meet because Indonesians are placing all their hope for a better future in Monday's elections. A credible General Elections Commission would help ensure a fair and true vote.
In the final analysis, what is at stake here is whether -- or to what degree -- order, peace and harmony can be attained in postelection Indonesia. It is too late now to bemoan past mistakes committed by the General Elections Commission. However, this estimable body owes it to the people of Indonesia to make sure further errors do not occur before, during and in the aftermath of Monday's general election.