The price of democracy

The price of democracy

Generally, the legislative election has taken place smoothly and peacefully, despite its shortcomings.

While casting votes for the country's legislative bodies, and later for the president, is the people's right, the people must also respect and accept the results of the polls in a manner consistent with democracy. Winning -- and losing -- is commonplace in a democratic system.

This is not to say that the voting process in the legislative election was perfect -- far from it. Many citizens eligible to vote lost their rights because of administrative blunders in several areas, while in others, children and dead people were registered as legal voters. Many people were also found to have more than one voting cards.

These shortcomings are the responsibility of the whole nation; the Election Commission (KPU), the House of Representatives (DPR), and the government -- as well as the people. The election is a public undertaking, involving trillions of rupiah from the state budget. It is not nice to contemplate what would happen if were derailed.

Meanwhile, the ballot counting process continues and we must stay alert to monitor the ballot distribution and aggregation.

If everyone plays by the rules then they truly honor democracy, regardless if they win or lose.

-- Republika, Jakarta