The task ahead

The task ahead

By casting their votes on Monday, in what has widely been
billed as the country's first democratic general election in more
than 40 years, Indonesians have passed a major milestone in their
50-year history as a free nation. So far, with the exception of a
few minor cases, reports coming in from the various regions of
the country have dispelled earlier fears that such a democratic
and free vote -- a novel experience for millions of younger
Indonesians -- could only result in widespread violence.

Trouble and violence having been all too common phenomena over
the past year, Indonesians now have good reason to congratulate
themselves for having made this first step toward democracy
safely. Still, Indonesians would do well to remember that this is
precisely what Monday's general elections actually were: a mere
first step -- and not necessarily the most hazardous one -- on
what is certain to be a long and perilous road toward
establishing a healthy democracy and building a strong, just and
prosperous civic society, which is the ultimate aim of the
current reform movement.

In the days that lie ahead the results of the ballot will be
known. This will be the basis on which the new national and
regional legislative bodies will be formed. It will be their task
to revise old, outdated or flawed legislation and draw up new
bills, including possibly amending the Constitution. No less
important, the new People's Representative Assembly will convene
to elect a new president and vice president and draw up policy
guidelines for the next president to follow in the next five
years that he or she will be in power.

The nation has come to a point where it must, through its
legislative assemblies, reshape the flawed economic, social and
political infrastructure it has inherited from the New Order
regime and map out the new course for the coming five years.

Having passed the test of Monday's peaceful ballot, Indonesia
now finds itself facing a most crucial period in which it must
give substance to the ideal of building a strong civil society
based on the principles of freedom, justice and prosperity for
all. To achieve this, one essential point on the agenda must be
to prevent the further abuse of power by the government. This
fundamental principle must be kept strictly in mind, not only by
those who win the elections, but by all who are mandated by the
people to represent them. Unfortunately it is a principle that is
easier to state than to implement.

Already, there are signs of the danger of being sidetracked
from the initial goal of our current reform movement: to
eliminate all abuse of power and eradicate the widespread
corruption, collusion and nepotism that were the hallmarks of the
old regime and that persist up to the present. To achieve this,
wisdom and statesmanship are called for in the months ahead.

Signs of rifts in our ranks were uncovered during the days of
campaigning for the elections and even before the official
campaigns begun. In the coming months, this rivalry, the
bickerings and the bargaining among political parties and groups
are sure to intensify, as they are natural parts of the
democratic decision-making process. Under such circumstances it
is easy for us to lose sight of higher targets.

The only thing Indonesians can hope for is that their
politicians, whatever their leaning, may remember the lessons of
the past and have the wisdom to avoid repeating those old
mistakes. The future of this and future generations of
Indonesians is in our hands.