People eager for presidential election
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Regardless of the public's suspicion that campaign promises are made to be broken, Monday's legislative election was marked by the high turnout of voters. Some international media hailed the election, which was contested by 24 parties, as peaceful, despite its logistical shortcomings.
If people have no faith in the candidates, what compelled them to vote? Why were polling stations so highly attended when many voters say that they don't expect much from the results?
Indonesia is not alone in facing public cynicism toward politics but while other countries, which have a strong tradition of democracy, face the same problem, their elections are poorly attended.
Mochtar Pabottingi, a political analyst at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said people showed enthusiasm toward the legislative election and hoped that their votes would bring about change.
The July 5 direct presidential election would also attract voters' interest, he said.
"The people's (optimistic) mood will likely remain ahead of the presidential election. They will vote for dedicated and clean presidential candidates. Such a condition is good for democracy," he said.
He predicted that presidential candidates from major parties would face a serious rival in Gen. (ret) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the cofounder of the Democratic Party.
Susilo's party had earlier claimed that it would get surprising results, perhaps because many people want him to run for president.
Pramono Anung Wibowo, deputy secretary-general of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) conceded on Tuesday that many voters had lost faith in the electoral process.
"We will accept the results as the people's choice... We will be introspective and conduct an evaluation if the party does not perform as expected," he said.
How about the voters?
Residents of Pondok Cabe Udik in Pamulang, Tangerang, said that they went to polling stations in the village to elect the parties who would support their favorite politicians as presidential candidates.
"Otherwise, ruling parties will remain in power," said Djoko Lelono who defended the decision of some of his neighbors to abstain from voting.
Christina Susilowati, an employee of a private bank, hailed the election result in the village that gave a rather equal victory to the Democratic Party and the Muslim-oriented Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), saying that the two new parties were expected to fulfill their promises.
"Many people are not enthusiastic about the elections because of the government's poor performance. But, we have to use our constitutional right to a clean and strong government," she said.