Like sitting on a volcano

Well, I don't have that experience. What I have in mind is that the preelection campaign period is like sitting on a volcano. You feel the heat, you sense an explosion will occur at any time, you hear all kinds of rumbling noises and you detect all sorts of sulfuric acids. The best policy, of course, is to run. If you were rich enough you could fly Singapore Airlines to Ellis Spring or Hawaii.

But if you are patriotic you stay and cast your vote come what may. God surely will look after you, although one or two devils would be happy to dance around you as well. Guardian angels may be busy these days keeping political hotheads from harming each other during the campaign. Beware, the slightest friction could spark a fire which may turn into a big flame, and you know what follows next.

Fortunately, there has been good news. Golkar Party has singled out Habibie for its presidential candidate. At least the people now know all his activities will be designed to win the elections, although this has been suspected of him since he took over the office. In my judgment, Habibie is a man who loves to work hard, carries out his duties well and aims his ambitions high. He is a proud man and knows what he can do, such as building aircraft and submarines.

Now that he is President and a party politician, he should know what he cannot do and does not need to do, such as wishing to extend his term as head of state. Remember that he was supposed to facilitate the election process and the transfer from an autocratic to democratic administration. More essentially, can he unify the country? From a politician with the highest ambitions, one can not expect honesty since, as the saying goes, "power corrupts and even a little power corrupts a little". Whatever he does or says he cannot erase the stigma of being a Soeharto loyalist.

The trouble with the Indonesian elections is that parties have not learned to accept defeat. Many are only outwardly democratic while inwardly they have no democratic tolerance or democratic common sense. To win at all costs, legally, illegally, criminally or inhumanly, they will not hesitate to deploy whatever means they have at hand.

Things were not at all dull following the report by the American-based Time magazine on the wealth reportedly amassed by the Soeharto family, presumably including a few mansions in London. The former president's lawyers, however, have insisted that the report is not proof before the law that Soeharto is guilty of corruption, something that Attorney General Andi Ghalib had been stressing all this time. Where are the receipts? Who are the witnesses? Are they all sane?

The lawyers have announced they will sue the magazine and demand Time pay damages for defaming the family's name. The Time correspondent, if found guilty, does not need to worry about a place of detention: Xanana Gusmao is shortly to vacate his convenient jail.

Fortunately, not all contestants in the general election are "barbaric". In some places, contestants were seen merrily dancing together in a general rehearsal for the so-called festival of democracy. In spite of all the precautionary measures taken by security authorities to ensure free, fair and safe elections, I prefer to sit on an iceberg. At least you know you are moving, if only because global warming has begun to melt all the ice.

GANDHI SUKARDI

Jakarta