The war is on

The war is on

You are absolutely correct, I do not mean the deadly "Star
Wars" conceived by United States air defense strategists at the
peak of the Cold War, but the preelection campaign clashes
between political parties in this country.

Of course, they are insignificant but potentially they could
turn very serious as the day of reckoning (election day)
approaches. At least the "war cries" and the "drum beats" of 48
political parties will be heard and the wild cries of victory
will fill the air. Tension has already crept into the political
atmosphere, where ideally a sense of tolerance should prevail.

The trouble is nobody has a reliable chart of the expected
strengths of each contestant on the basis of previous truly
democratic contests. The June elections will be the first when
nobody can predict beforehand, unlike the elections under the old
regime, which party will win. The big questions are whether the
winners will collect the votes fairly and whether the losers will
accept their defeat without a rain of protest. We have seen how
in politics we tend to blame others for any mishap.

If democratic principles are to be applied, the most powerful
and the richest party, undoubtedly the new Golkar Party in the
eyes of many observers, should not be allowed to participate in
the elections, judging from its past sins and its half-hearted
reform mentality.

Whether Golkar, under its new cloak but with the same old
mentality, loses or wins the elections, there are, unfortunately,
bound to be protests and trouble.

Hopefully those in charge of elections security, in particular
the police, will be able to control the situation. In provinces
where riots have taken place, half of the elections results
should be discarded because many residents have been dislocated
because of the unrest.

The general election should bring about true reform in as many
fields as possible, outwardly and inwardly. We should not allow
ourselves to be guided by the ideals of a democracy which is a
democracy in name only but not in practice. Instead, every leader
should be imbued by the spirit of bringing genuine prosperity and
fighting backwardness and deprivation.

It is understandable that many citizens, Indonesians and
foreigners, are preparing to leave the country for safer ground
in anticipation of elections day. Conditions here may best be
described as "nervous and anything can happen".

GANDHI SUKARDI

Jakarta