PPP's final stand

After days of suspenseful waiting, the United Development Party's (PPP) final stand concerning the recent general election must have come as an anticlimax to many observers. Until the announcement was made Wednesday by the party's deputy secretary- general, Bachtiar Chamsyah, they could at least toy with the interesting speculation of what would happen if the party should refuse to endorse the election results. After the dismal performance of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) in the recent election, the PPP is now practically the sole nongoverning party capable of balancing the overwhelming dominance of Golkar in the House of Representatives.

In a drawn-out meeting over the past week, the party's chapters and branches agreed to leave the crucial final decision regarding this delicate question to the central party board. Now the central board has bounced the ball back into the courts of the party's regional chapters and branches by letting them decide for themselves what kind of stand they wish to take. Although most of these chapters and branches are expected to endorse the balloting results, a number of chapters and branches in the provinces earlier said they would refuse to do so, alleging vote- rigging and irregularities during the vote counting.

If there is one conclusion to be drawn from this whole episode, it is that the decision is a particularly tough one for the party to take. Simply accepting the results could put the party in an unfavorable light, given the cries of election fraud that it has been sounding. On the other hand, a straight refusal to endorse the officially announced results could have serious political consequences for the party.

It is not difficult to see that either an acceptance or a refusal of the election results by the central party board could raise dangerous internal conflicts and friction within the party itself. The decision to leave it all to the regions, therefore, is easy enough to understand and to accept. It also creates the favorable impression of a democratic leadership within the PPP.

One other phenomenon deserves noting. Moderate as the PPP's final stance may seem to be, the phenomenon of openly and persistently protesting violations, whether real or perceived, constitutes a new drift in this country's politics. In the past, the common thing for unhappy election contenders to do was to acquiesce, after perhaps a few token protests by the party boards.

This time, the protests have been aired far more openly, and not only at board level, but among the grass roots. Although in the end there is no avoiding the prevailing political realities, the trend deserves noting. If one lesson can be drawn from all this, it is that all things are subject to change. Flaws or imperfections that were tolerable in the public's eye in the past, may not be in the present.

Now that the din of the election is subsiding and the dust is settling, the first post-election priority for all of us must be to work, hand in hand, toward achieving a true national reconciliation. Only in a climate of peace and affinity can we achieve our goal of building a just and prosperous society. It is a goal in which we all have a stake.