On nonvoters

On nonvoters

In democracies, failing to vote may be justified if the voter
cannot find a least-worst candidate, rarely the case. In
Indonesia, however, it seems some voters feel they face an
election that is more festival than democracy. By not voting, it
is arguable that a voter denies legitimacy to the current
electoral process.

A vote sacrificed now, to encouraged the authorities to hasten
the democratization process, may seem a good deal, particularly
if today's vote carries scant value. Possibly, a Golput
(nonvoter) vote is the most influential of all. This is an
election, after all, where analysts will study nuances and
trends, not the final 70.02 percent result.

The government guards the Golput and no-show figures more
closely than it guards the results of the opposition parties,
which surely speaks volumes, and it has tied itself in knots
trying to suppress the Golput debate without further trivializing
the democratic process.

And remember, an essential ingredient of any democracy is a
measured disrespect for government authority.

TIM RICHARDSON

Jakarta