Voters have ways to elect and punish their leaders

Kornelius Purba, Jakarta

The middle-aged hospital worker hesitantly approached a patient who just had undergone a bladder surgery. She looked impressed with a bouquet the patient received from his old friend. When there was no nurse in the room, the 'office girl' could no longer resist temptation not to ask the patient,"You are a legislative candidate, aren't you?"

She still insisted even after the patient said,"No". "But why the government official sent you this beautiful flower?"

Then she had a big smile when she looked at his stomach,"You have a big stomach. It means you are a government official. You must have a very good income, and that is why your stomach is so big like this." For her a stomach size has a correlation with prosperity. After repeatedly apologized, the woman then said corrupt officials often have bloated stomach.

The patient then asked the woman, who lost one of her upper teeth, about her favorite presidential candidate. Without hesitation she mentioned Gen. (ret) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

When asked why, she teased,"He is handsome, and his stomach is not like yours." For her, Susilo's flat stomach merely means he is a clean politician.

The country will have its first direct presidential election on July 5. Six pairs will contest the race. The election campaign will be held in June, when candidates present their vision in wooing voters. Many observers predict possible chaos because this will be first experience for the nation and the supporters of the six candidates might not be ready to accept the failure of their idols.

But such a worry could be groundless. Nobody can underestimate ordinary people's political maturity. It is not true that people are not ready yet with the direct presidential election. People, especially those living in Java, have been familiar with such a system in electing their leaders, although in much lower level.

The system was much damaged during Soeharto's 32 year tenure, but people in rural areas still run the system by electing their lurah or (village head) directly. They master the art to exploit the lurah candidates before the race as if they knew that the now the elected leader will abuse them some day when the election was over.

Presidential election basically has no much difference from the lurah election.

For many Indonesians, the criteria for electing or rejecting a presidential candidate often looks very simple but actually very fundamental. People are not interested in the candidates' political platforms or promises. All candidates of course promise to bring prosperity, justice and democracy for the country. Voters also do not want to spend their energy to challenge such a commitment because -- experience teaches them -- it is much better to ignore such promises.

The promises which will be conveyed during the presidential election campaign next month will not likely be very different from those made by the political parties before the April 5 legislative election.

It is not an exaggeration to say that SBY -- people often call Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono by his acronym -- is likely the most popular candidate compared to other five presidential candidates.

Many people can not answer when asked about the general's achievement during his career. "He is humble and polite," is a common answer about the reason to elect the general.

He won strong public sympathy when Taufik Kiemas, the husband of the incumbent President Megawati Soekarnoputri, described the general as 'childish' before Susilo resigned from the Cabinet in March. He said the President had isolated him from the Cabinet.

Voters also have their own way to punish leaders who disappointed them. They would not make extreme measures like massive demonstrations. That was happened with Megawati, whose Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) won nearly 35 percent of votes five years ago. At that time Megawati was regarded as a perfect symbol of Soeharto's oppression.

But what Megawati has done so far? She supported the reelection of Lt. Gen. (ret) Sutiyoso as Jakarta governor and other military governors despite their poor performance. She fired party cadres who had different view with her about the governor's policy.

Voters did not make public fuss. That is why Megawati was overconfident. In April election her party won less than 20 percent votes.

"She just does not care with us," it is one of common criticism against her.

Another presidential candidate is Amien Rais, chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN). Many brand him as one of the country's most prominent reformist. But his party could not perform better (in last April legislative election) compared to the 1999 election. Why has PAN failed despite the official support from the country's second largest Muslim organization Muhammadiyah? Amien was former chairman of Muhammadiyah. Is it because Amien is often perceived as inconsistent politician, who can easily change his mind without strong reason?

Look at Soeharto's former party, Golkar. Only six years after his fall, Golkar won most votes last month. Golkar nominated former Soeharto's adjutant Gen. (ret) Wiranto for the presidential race despite mounting allegations of human rights abuses against the general. Would he win the race?

When a new party set up by Gen. (ret) R. Hartono nominated Soeharto's daughter Siti Hardijanti "Tutut" Rukmana as its presidential nominee, many scholars warned the danger of her election. But voters are not that stupid. Hartono's Concern for the Nation Functional Party (PKPB) could only win two of the 550 legislative seats. Kornelius Purba (purba@thejakartapost.com) is a staff writer of The Jakarta Post.