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