On abstentions

On abstentions

From Media Indonesia

It really is ungentlemanly for a number of those belonging to
the country's political elite to encourage their followers not to
vote in the second round of the presidential election.

This is especially true when such a call is made on the
grounds that neither of the two candidates to compete in the
second round of the election is "proper" in terms of the Islamic
moral perspective and the interests of Muslims. We know that all
five of the candidates contesting the presidential election are
Muslim.

Those urging their followers not to vote must show a better
attitude by magnanimously accepting the fact that their
candidates failed to make it to the second round of the
presidential election. Otherwise, they will prove themselves to
be irresponsible and undemocratic.

Even if allegedly illegal practices in the first round of the
election are used as the reason for the call to abstain in the
second round, it remains an act that is neither fair nor
gentlemanly.

YUDHA ADITYA

Jakarta