---------------------------------------------------------- Visit Indonesia Daily News Online HomePage: http://www.indo-news.com/ and click banner our sponsor ---------------------------------------------------------- SUPANGKAT'S COLUMN: INDON.ELECTION: NEITHER OPEN NOR FAIR, EVEN ANTISOCIAL Golkar overprotected unfairly to win I took it for granted that the Reformists in Indonesia are all good and unorthodox. But I was dead wrong on one particular issue: the general election which is sup- possed to be open and fair. I criticized the lawmakers to be "overprotective" to the Golkar, some political parties protested and unheeded. I just found out that the election is not only "Golkar oriented" but also neither open nor fair, even antisocial! 1. The election law was created to make Golkar unbeatable by setting up draco- nian rules that in order to qualify, the party must have branches in at least nine provinces, etc. etc. Indonesia is not a piece of continental land, it is a thousands archipelago where transportation and communication systems are expensive if not affordable for average people. The Golkar has a big leap over other political parties because they have well-organized branches in all 27 provinces thanks to the monopoly system of the Suharto fascist militarism regime. Fourty seven out of hundreds parties managed to qualify miraculously plus one the Golkar of course. However obvious the law unfair is, I was the only creature who ever protested. Neither Open nor Fair, even antisocial In an open and fair election in the free world, the political parties participation are not merely because they existed and have the desire to be elected, but because they have different Platforms, different Programs for both the Legis- lative and the Excecutive. And last but not least because they have particular people called "candidates". The constituents in particular and the voters in general have been given open and fair chance to examine the background, the personalities and the platform of the candidates. This is purely in the tradition of man as a social animal. It is inconceivable that they would vote for the political party, let alone about parties who have no platform or political program yet like the ones we have in Indonesia now. It would be neither open nor fair, evenmore antisocial! Ridiculous for Indonesia: democraZY It is ridiculous for a country like Indonesia to have this situation for 28 years under the Suharto regime because we are social animals "numero uno" ac- cording to our cultural legacy. But the fascist military regime managed to force us to acquiesce and oblige. But in this Reformation era, we should speak up and speak the truth. We should wonder why should we elect the party instead of a candidate so that we could examine them before having to vote for them. This is what democracy is all about, without this rights, it is democraZY. No Independents Moreover, in our present system there is no room for Independent politicians or aspiring politicians. This is absolutely neither open nor fair. In our 1955 election, the parties are program oriented, they have platforms, they have political programs for both the Legislative and the Excecutive before long. And last but not least there are Independent candidates, called the "Partijloos". ET voting more democratic? Compared with the direct voting system in ET (East Timor) which is still being worked out, our election seemed to be less democratic, mainly because they are under the United Nations supervision. Our UNDP observers wouldn't be as good, because the UNDP is only an independent UN specialized agency for development never for politics. The UNDP should never accept it in the first place, it smells apapeasement for an inexperienced and unqualified body. In ET they would have to vote for candidates, real, alive and kicking people! We have only two months and two weeks left, and the parties and their candi- dates have never been even introduced to the people, they don't have concrete Political Platform, they don't have Political Program yet for either the Legis- lative or the Excecutive. Our political scientists, our University graduates are abound, everybody is smart. But why is politics in Indonesia such a bad joke? Perhaps we are still suffering from the trauma of fascist military oppression? Lucky I am here in the US so that I could see it. H.S. Hidayat Supangkat New York. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 24 Mar 1999 jam 11:43:10 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
