Next election will be better

Next election will be better

Let Mr. Soeharto's recent comment serve as motivation.

Former president Soeharto's doubt that the upcoming general
election, slated for June 7, 1999, will fail need not be
responded to with cynicism. Neither must it give rise to a
suspicion that he is up on his sleeve for a comeback. As good
citizens who long for peace and unity, let us all join forces to
ensure that the general election will be successful. It is now
time for all citizens to actively take part in the general
election and vote for really reform-minded parties. It is also a
golden opportunity now for the election commission (KPU) and the
reformists to prove that the Reform Order is capable of doing
better things than past regimes, irrespective of the fact that
there are still antireform elements in the Reform Order itself.

While the past elections, with only three contestants, were
prepared well in one to two years, they could not, in the words
of experts and also Soeharto, be held honestly and fairly. Let us
-- all parties/groups -- now support the KPU to prove to the
pessimists that although the general election has been prepared
in a very short time (only a few months) and although there are
some other limitations, the upcoming elections will be better, in
terms of honesty and fairness, than the previous ones.

Some experts have commented that many newly established
political parties are not really ready for the general election.
This, in my opinion, is none of KPU's business. Let history be
the judge of these parties and test their real power. This is the
most appropriate time to announce the dawn of a program-oriented
era.

Political parties good at making promises will finally be
abandoned by their followers. Political parties whose programs
are not popular will finally die because of their unpopularity.
They will all be dumped into the dustbin of history. (Remember
the law of life "the survival of the fittest"). Only the best
political parties will take us to a New Indonesia. These
political parties will win the general election gallantly,
honestly and fairly. They are devoid of dishonest practices and
other political sins such as intimidation and empty promises.

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Jakarta