Message from the Indonesian polls

The Straits Times, Asia News Network, Singapore

The first thing to be said about Indonesia's April 5 parliamentary elections, for which final results were announced on Wednesday, is that they had gone well for an exercise of this scope. It was relatively peaceful and no charges of cheating have sullied the results. The three-tier elections for national, regional and district legislative posts involved 148 million eligible voters, out of whom about 125 million cast their votes -- an 83 percent turnout that would do many democracies proud.

Indonesians' interest in their elections shows that the country's democratic institutions are shaping up well as it continues with the transition after decades of autocratic rule that ended with the Asian economic crisis of the late 1990s. The 1999 elections laid out a platform for change, which this year's polls have consolidated. The elections prove once again, if proof were needed, that there is no contradiction between being a large, diverse and developing Muslim nation, and carrying out an extensive democratic exercise.

The elections have articulated the differences that exist in Indonesian society, but they also provide a platform for the reconciliation of those differences through political negotiation and compromise. That is the next step. What has been achieved already is that Indonesia itself is the victor in the elections.

The results make several key points. First, Golkar, the party associated with the authoritarian Soeharto years, has changed with the times. It received 21.58 percent of the vote to claim the largest number of seats, 128, in the 550-member Parliament. That is a gain of eight from the 1999 elections. Golkar's success underscores the truth that what matters in every election is the next one.

Five years ago, it was in rout, having been associated with the excesses of the era which it embodied. But its cadres kept working, setting their sights on the future. Helping them was Golkar's broad-based reach into the grassroots of Indonesian life, a network of influence which it inherited from the Soeharto years. With the former president no longer in the political picture, the party was free to rejuvenate itself while capitalizing on its institutional strengths. That combination has paid off.

The second point made is that anti-incumbency is a factor which incumbents, above all, should keep in mind. The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), led by President Megawati Soekarnoputri, had only 18.53 percent of the vote. This was an astonishing drop of 15 percentage points from its victory of 1999. The PDI-P won 109 seats against 153 before. The anti- incumbent, anti-Golkar mood of that time found its target this time in the party which it had installed in power.

Among the reasons for the mood are continuing economic problems -- notably, unemployment of around 10 million -- sporadic outbursts of violence in its far-flung regions, and a certain perceived aloofness in the President's style. Whatever combination of these factors is responsible, the polls have delivered a clear message to her party that speed and decisiveness in dealing with problems are indices by which voters judge the ruling party.

The third point is that all the major parties -- including Golkar, which won 22.7 percent of the vote in 1999 -- have seen their support fall compared to the last elections. They are dealing with a more discerning populace which is going to judge them more harshly than before and, if dissatisfied, switch support to smaller parties. That clear message should keep them on their toes, and help Indonesian democracy take the next step forward.