RI poll is the one to watch
RI poll is the one to watch
On Monday, the focus of Asia's Year of Voting Frequently
shifts to Indonesia, where 147 million voters will elect the
members of Indonesia's 550-seat parliament. This will be followed
by the presidential election on July 5. For Indonesia, this is a
milestone poll, the second election since Soeharto was toppled in
1998, and the first in which the president will be chosen
directly. As we have seen in The Philippines, Russia and many
other places, a country's second election after dictatorship is a
bit like the "difficult second album" of a popular musical group.
The euphoria of "people power" has faded, the economic rewards
that were supposed to accompany it have failed to materialize and
freedom is starting to look a bit like instability, even chaos.
This is certainly the case in Indonesia. Although economic growth
has picked up, it is nowhere near to what would be required to
improve the living standards of a nation of 235 million people
with an average annual income of US$690 ($907.50). President
Megawati Soekarnoputri has run a lazy administration, so the
greatest barrier to constructive political, legal and economic
reform in Indonesia -- endemic corruption -- has not been
addressed. The danger in these circumstances is that voters may
look for a "strongman" in the presidential poll, and turn to
former army chief Gen. Wiranto, whose role in the atrocities in
East Timor that left 1500 people dead would make him a daunting
prospect for Australia -- and the U.S. -- to deal with.
The good news, however, is that the Indonesian election looks
like following the trend set by Malaysia last month in two
important respects: The poll should be free, peaceful and fair;
and the fundamentalist Islamic parties are languishing in single
digits. As well as being our 10th-largest trading partner,
Indonesia is our key strategic partner in the regional fight
against terror and, while there is still some mutual suspicion at
business-to-business and government-to-government levels, at the
level of police co-operation the partnership has already reaped
dividends, notably in the successful prosecution of the Bali
bombers. -- The Australian, Sydney