Upheaval 'likely' in next election campaign

JAKARTA (JP): Observers called on political parties and the public on Tuesday to prepare for the possibility of upheavals in the general election next June, and to reduce tensions during the campaign.

Speaking in a seminar on the new format of election campaigning for next year's poll, the experts voiced concern over what they believed was Indonesians' political immaturity, which might lead to tension and conflicts in the next campaign.

Among the speakers on Tuesday were Riswandha Imawan and Ichlasul Amal of Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Franz Magnis Suseno of the Driyarkara School of Philosophy in Jakarta, Daniel Sparingga of the Airlangga University in Surabaya, Eep Saefulloh Fatah of the University of Indonesia, and Rudini of the Institute of Strategic Studies of Indonesia.

Riswandha discussed various mistakes in past campaigns which were often marked by violence and disorder. He cited for example the mistaken concept of a campaign as electioneering among a party's own followers.

"The first mistake was that campaigning was always done only between party figures and their supporters. What's the use of persuading the party's own supporters? It's a stupid thing to do," he said.

"What must be effected are dialogs, debates or campaigning between parties and their supporters. A campaign's aim is to allow the public to decide on their choice," he said.

The other mistake that Riswandha cited was the use of violence and hypocrisy in running an election campaign.

"Security personnel in each party used to wear military attributes but now we want the Armed Forces (ABRI) to stay away from politics. This is confusing and must be stopped," he said.

Riswandha underlined the importance of a peaceful campaign so it can bring about a democratic and natural transformation of power.

"People have grown tired of violence. We have seen too much bloodshed," Riswandha said, adding that what the public needed was a campaigning style marked with exchange of information and argument.

Party leaders, for instance, should make preparations so they can manage their mass followings and provide specific rules to prevent chaos.

"We have to start with a movement of political enlightenment. Change the old ways. Watch out for money politics and separate religions and expressions of hatred from politics. Then we hope that we will survive," he said.

Riswandha explored the consequences of what happens when people mix politics with religion.

"Politics and religion have different rules of the game," he said, describing how in the 1977 election campaign rival parties traded Koranic verses as their arguments.

"The use of religion in politics creates fanaticism and strong rhetoric," Riswandha added.

Franz Magnis Suseno said people became alienated during the New Order era and suffered from a lack of political space.

"The regime did an awful job in handling conflicts. Rather than solving conflicts, they suppressed them and acted as if nothing had happened and this crushed society from within," Magnis said.

The prolonged repression resulted in a lack of knowledge of democracy as well as misbehavior in society and politics, he added.

"People are easily involved or provoked in conflicts because they do not know that in a healthy society, dialog, consensus, openness and debates or dissenting opinions are natural and common things," he said.

Magnis reiterated the importance of political party leaders working on the best way to reduce the possibility of chaos in campaign procedures.

"Indonesians are actually a warm and sensible people. What we need now is a good, wise, role model. People need such figures to overcome the confusion of this democracy euphoria," he said.

Daniel Sparingga expressed his pessimism about the next electoral campaign. "There's no way we're going to have a fair and open election if the political elite do not show their good will."

Ichlasul Amal warned people of the danger of money politics. (edt)