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