Time is up

Doubts that the upcoming general election next year can bring significant changes for the better to this country's political landscape are growing as the General Elections Committee (KPU) is giving political parties a final chance to list their legislative candidates today.

The reasons for the delay -- deliberate foot-dragging may be a better word in some cases -- are various, including the relatively costly, time-consuming and complicated procedures that aspiring candidates have to go through to be eligible to contest the elections.

To begin with, candidates must meet 12 different requirements in order to qualify, which include a health check and the possession of certificates from local court and police authorities attesting to the aspiring candidate's right to vote and that the candidate has no criminal record. Anyone who has had the daunting experience of dealing with officialdom -- especially at the lower levels of the bureaucracy -- will know how tiring and often costly this can be.

There are, however, other reasons for the delay that could be of much greater significance to the process of democratization, which Indonesia is at present going through. One such reason is the tough bargaining that has reportedly been taking place between aspiring legislative candidates from the regions and their party bosses in Jakarta, regarding the allotment of lucky numbers -- the point being that candidates with "small" numbers stand a much better chance of being elected.

Since the numbers are allotted by the parties' executive boards, the final word on who will represent the people in the national legislature still effectively belongs to the top (party) brass in Jakarta -- not the party's constituents in the provinces and regencies. In other words, the will of the people in the House of Representatives (DPR) and People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), after next year's elections, will in all probability (or to some extent at least) be articulated by legislators representing the party, rather than their constituents -- as is the case at present.

Also, even though in the upcoming general election voters will be able to choose not only from a list of the symbols of the 24 eligible parties, but also from names of legislative candidates, the chance of voters making a wrong choice remains. The problem is that the new general election law allows voters to choose only a symbol, without a name, if they so prefer.

Obviously, this stipulation makes it possible for political parties to nominate their legislators to promote their party's interests first. If this happens on a wide enough scale, then the situation of the national legislature being out of step with society will remain.

All this, however, should not lead us to overlook either the hard work that has been done by the General Elections Committee or the effort that is being made by various concerned-citizens groups in our society. Certainly, a long and rocky road lies ahead, but there is good reason to be optimistic that with resolve and perseverance this nation has the strength to achieve its aim of building a strong and healthy civil society.