Asia Times: Indonesia takes first step down democratic path



	June 09, 1999	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

Indonesia takes first step down democratic path
By Kafil Yamin

JAKARTA - Millions of Indonesians went to the pollsMonday to vote in parliamentary elections, the very holding ofwhich was already quite a democratic achievement for this country.

Indeed, the election was vastly different from those held during the 32-year rule of theSuharto government. This time, 115 million registered voters could choose from anarray of 48 political parties in the freest elections in fourdecades, a poll monitored by more than 400 local and internationalobservers in various parts of the country.

''It's really different voting. I can vote for the party of mychoice without being haunted by scolding of my superior,'' saidSuhartini, a government employee in West Jakarta, after castinghis ballot.

Ridwan, a truck driver, said this time he madesure he voted: ''I've never voted in the previous elections. [This time] I can really choose."

President Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie, who arrived at his pollingstation erected under a marquee just 150 metres from his house inPatra Kuningan neighborhood in Jakarta, lined up with othervoters in heavy rain. He had brought forward this election, which had not been dueuntil 2002, and is eyeing a new term as president.

The poll opened first in the central and eastern regions of thesprawling archipelago before residents in the capital Jakarta gottheir chance. There are 320,000 polling stations.

Indonesians are voting for a new parliament as well as forprovincial and district assemblies, choosing from an overwhelmingarray of 48 parties. Tallying of votes was expected to start by 7 p.m. Monday and will be completedin two weeks.

Some 462 seats are up for grabs in the 500-seat People'sRepresentative Council, with the remaining 38 going torepresentatives from the military.

The council, plus 200 appointed representatives from varioussectors of society, will form the 700-member People's ConsultativeAssembly that will elect a president and vice president inNovember.

Despite some tensions and violent incidents, especially outsidethe capital, the election period has seen less trouble than manyexpected.

Defying all the dire predictions, the 17-day campaign periodthat ended June 4 passed without major violence, although Golkarsupporters were repeatedly stoned and heckled, leading troops toopen fire in Jakarta Friday.

Likewise, several areas such as East Timor, Aceh and the SpiceIslands of Maluku have seen bloody unrest in past months due topolitical or religious tensions. While turnout was expected to behigh across the country, it was reportedly low in Aceh, whoseseparatist movement has been urging a boycott.

Still, many likened the campaign period to a carnival featuringthe different colors of the various political parties - in sharpcontrast with Suharto-era ''campaigning."

Many of the political parties active in the election arenewcomers on the scene. Others re-emerged after being banned bySuharto, during which only Golkar and two other parties wereofficially sanctioned.

Golkar itself has been trying to change into a pro-reform partyand distance itself from the Suharto years, with little success.It faces a formidable challenge from a slew of parties which arepushing reformist platforms.

Among the front-runners is the Indonesian Democracy Party -Struggle (PDIP) led by the popular Megawati Sukarnoputri, thedaughter of Indonesia's founding president Sukarno, who is expectedto make a run for the presidency.

She is immensely popular, though her political inexperience isoften raised as a liability. She has pronounced a secular approachto government, favors East Timor's integration with Indonesia andhas given little by way of a program of government.

Megawati is part of a loose anti-Golkar front with two otherpopular parties - the National Mandate Party (PAN) of reformistAmien Rais, and the National Awakening Party (PKB) of moderateMuslim leader Abdurrahman ''Gus Dur'' Wahid.

They have held off discussion on a formal coalition -especially the touchy issue of who seeks the presidency - but aim to head off a Golkar victory in parliament.

Rais and Wahid belong to Muslim constituencies, raisingspeculation about how comfortable they are with a secularist group like Megawati's camp.

Still, many say the slew of new Muslim-based parties contestingMonday's election is unlikely to radically alter the politicalscene. Although Muslims make up close to 90 percent of Indonesia's202 million people, Islamic clerics wielded little power duringthe Suharto years.

Many analysts say the opposition has a good chance of gettinghalf of the vote, but that is easier achieved in Java island,which has strong resentment against Golkar, than in Indonesia'soutlying provinces where the ruling party still has impressivemachinery and resources.

Now that election day has come and passed, the preoccupationhas turned from fears of unrest during the campaign period toworries about the results of the poll and how the differentpolitical camps will conduct themselves.

''In the past, losers knew that they could not win and winnersknew they could not lose. They knew the result - a governmentvictory - before it was announced. Now, some of them know they canwin, so they can hardly accept losing,'' said Andi Mallaraeng, amember of the election commission.

''We spell out democracy everyday. But in practice, we are justabout to learn about it,'' he added.

A coalition government would have to be formed if no one partyor group gets a clear majority,which raises the possibility of protracted instability whilenegotiations go on.

Worse, some say, it could lead to a deadlocked People'sConsultative Assembly. A victory by Golkar could also easily fuelallegations of fraud.

That is why Indonesia's learning process on democracy can onlyremain on track if reformation continues, experts say.

''If the pro-status quo parties win, then the processof 'reformasi' will be hampered and go through various stumblingblocks,'' said noted Muslim intellectual Nurcholish Majid.

If the status quo wins, ''it will be on our conscience that wehave betrayed the reform movement - and betrayed those who gavetheir lives for the movement - by failing to make meaningfulchanges in this country when the rare opportunity presentsitself,'' argued the Jakarta Post in an editorial over theweekend.

(Inter Press Service)

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©1999 Asia Times Online Co., Ltd.

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