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.

SAHAT SITORUS

Jakarta