Sutiyoso's reelection

Jakarta governor Sutiyoso apparently believes in the curative power of spanduk, those colorful, slogan-filled banners that adorn Jakarta's bridges and roadsides. Ever since he defied the wall of public opposition and won a second term as governor in a sham election, they've been erected around the city to tell us that we, the people of Jakarta are in fact delighted at his success.

And there I was thinking he was tremendously unpopular, we are all apparently supposed to think, "But now I've read the spanduk I realize I was wrong about this man the whole city loves. I could kick myself".

Of course, no minds have been changed. Sutiyoso's track record was so poor and the election process so deeply flawed that the overwhelming mood among Jakartans is one of cynicism and anger. Perhaps most galling was the pretense that the process was democratic, the fantastic gulf between what the elections pretended to be and what they actually were.

I would like to propose two possible ways to close this gulf and ensure the next gubernatorial election is less exasperating than the one we've witnessed.

Firstly (and far from ideally), the election system could be changed to institutionalize the current reality. This is probably the alternative that Sutiyoso and his kind would like the best. For example, if the current reality is that the president decides who the governor will be and the election is just a rubber stamp, then how about getting rid of the election part of the process altogether? Let the president appoint the governor directly and stop pretending that there's any democracy involved.

A second, better, approach would be to draw up and enforce democratic gubernatorial election laws to ensure the best candidate won and punish any vote-rigging severely. This obvious (but strangely illusive) option is what the people of Jakarta want, and would solve the kinds of legitimacy problems that plague Sutiyoso in a way no congratulatory spanduk ever could.

So what's it going to be, as we look forward to the next gubernatorial election? Do the government and legislators want to continue accepting and legitimizing this sleazy process, or will they work to implement proper democratic institutions? To generate even more ridicule or begin to win trust? The choice is theirs, but do they even care?

ANDREW TRIGG, Jakarta