RI may learn from foreign examples
<p>RI may learn from foreign examples</p><p>The Jakarta Post, Jakarta</p><p>For the first time in Indonesia's modern history, the country is
experiencing a governmental transition after the General
Elections Commission declared on Monday Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
the winner of the Sept. 20 election runoff.</p><p>Susilo will replace President Megawati Soekarnoputri for the
2004-2009 term.</p><p>Political transition in the country has never been well
prepared or conducted in an orderly manner, and sometimes
involved the use of the military might.</p><p>The country's founding president, Sukarno, was officially
dismissed in 1967 in the midst a purge initiated by the military
against suspected members of the Indonesian Communist Party
(PKI), one of the president's political mainstays.</p><p>Sukarno's successor, Soeharto, was forced to step down after
32 years in power in May 1998 amid a severe financial crisis and
massive student protests and was not prepared to relinquish the
reins of power. His vice president, BJ Habibie, assumed power in
line with the Constitution.</p><p>In the last episode of the country's turbulent political
transition, former president Abdurrahman Wahid was dismissed by
the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) for incompetence only
after two years in office in 2001. The then vice president
Megawati took over the administration.</p><p>Transition involves a power vacuum during which the outgoing
government can no longer carry out all of its functions and the
incoming government is not in full possession of power.</p><p>In a healthy transition, the outgoing government is considered
powerless either because it no longer retains its authority, or
does not wish, out of respect for democracy, to make decisions
that would be binding for its successors.</p><p>Experience from the United States suggests that transition is
a cumbersome process and not all turning over of power has
proceeded smoothly.</p><p>After Abraham Lincoln was elected president with only 39
percent of the vote, outgoing president James Buchanan sat idly
by as state after state seceded from the union. By refusing to
act, he apparently left Lincoln with only two options: peaceful
dissolution of the nation or war.</p><p>What president-elects do and don't do during the interval
between their election and inauguration will also contribute much
to their success as president than perhaps any other decisions
made by their administrations.</p><p>The unexpected declaration by president-elect Bill Clinton in
1993 to lift the ban on homosexuals serving in the military
before he selected all his key defense and national security
advisers produced months of backpedaling and drew attention and
time away from the rest of his agenda.</p><p>In Kenya, the victory of the opposition against the Kenya
African National Union, which held a monopoly on power since the
country's independence, did not result in the repudiation of the
old forces.</p><p>In late 2002, the new Kenyan administration did not embark on
a witch-hunt against senior officials of the outgoing government.
Some of leading officials from the former government even got
positions in the new administration.</p>
experiencing a governmental transition after the General
Elections Commission declared on Monday Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
the winner of the Sept. 20 election runoff.</p><p>Susilo will replace President Megawati Soekarnoputri for the
2004-2009 term.</p><p>Political transition in the country has never been well
prepared or conducted in an orderly manner, and sometimes
involved the use of the military might.</p><p>The country's founding president, Sukarno, was officially
dismissed in 1967 in the midst a purge initiated by the military
against suspected members of the Indonesian Communist Party
(PKI), one of the president's political mainstays.</p><p>Sukarno's successor, Soeharto, was forced to step down after
32 years in power in May 1998 amid a severe financial crisis and
massive student protests and was not prepared to relinquish the
reins of power. His vice president, BJ Habibie, assumed power in
line with the Constitution.</p><p>In the last episode of the country's turbulent political
transition, former president Abdurrahman Wahid was dismissed by
the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) for incompetence only
after two years in office in 2001. The then vice president
Megawati took over the administration.</p><p>Transition involves a power vacuum during which the outgoing
government can no longer carry out all of its functions and the
incoming government is not in full possession of power.</p><p>In a healthy transition, the outgoing government is considered
powerless either because it no longer retains its authority, or
does not wish, out of respect for democracy, to make decisions
that would be binding for its successors.</p><p>Experience from the United States suggests that transition is
a cumbersome process and not all turning over of power has
proceeded smoothly.</p><p>After Abraham Lincoln was elected president with only 39
percent of the vote, outgoing president James Buchanan sat idly
by as state after state seceded from the union. By refusing to
act, he apparently left Lincoln with only two options: peaceful
dissolution of the nation or war.</p><p>What president-elects do and don't do during the interval
between their election and inauguration will also contribute much
to their success as president than perhaps any other decisions
made by their administrations.</p><p>The unexpected declaration by president-elect Bill Clinton in
1993 to lift the ban on homosexuals serving in the military
before he selected all his key defense and national security
advisers produced months of backpedaling and drew attention and
time away from the rest of his agenda.</p><p>In Kenya, the victory of the opposition against the Kenya
African National Union, which held a monopoly on power since the
country's independence, did not result in the repudiation of the
old forces.</p><p>In late 2002, the new Kenyan administration did not embark on
a witch-hunt against senior officials of the outgoing government.
Some of leading officials from the former government even got
positions in the new administration.</p>