Governor candidates use money to woo voters

I Wayan Juniartha ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Denpasar   |  Thu, 06/12/2008 10:18 AM  |  Surfing Bali

Nyoman Nata, not his real name, didn't take long to answer the question on which governor candidate he would vote for in the upcoming election.

"I don't know," he said with a faint smile on his face.

Two other men sitting next to Nata in a doctor's waiting room in Denpasar leaned over discreetly, hanging on to his every word: With the gubernatorial election only a month away, any discussion on the topic seems to arouse a certain degree of curiosity.

Particularly when the competing candidates are all high-profile figures, who have left a distinctive mark on the public's consciousness.

In one corner is Cokorda Budi Suryawan (CBS), the former secretary of the late Ida Bagus Mantra -- the most revered governor in the island's contemporary history -- and former two-time regent of Gianyar.

A member of the prominent royal family of Ubud and the current chairman of the Bali chapter of the Golkar party, CBS, a seasoned political force with a well-oiled electoral machine, has become an appealing candidate for the more conservative voters on the island.

CBS knows how to comfort the conservatives, promising them a future of stability by offering an array of programs, including the empowerment of Bali's traditional community institutions and the preservation of traditional Balinese culture and values.

In the another corner is Made Mangku Pastika, the three-star general who gained international fame for his role in leading the multinational investigation team of the 2002 Bali Bombings, a brutal terrorist attack that claimed 202 lives, mostly foreign tourists.

Under his leadership, the team succeeded in apprehending the perpetrators of the heinous crime and collecting a mountain of information, which later proved vital in solving dozens of other previous bombings in the country.

Mangku Pastika is, by nature, a low-profile, humble person. Yet, he never misses a chance to remind the public that after suffering two deadly terrorist attacks, the island desperately needs a leader with strong security credentials. He also underlines the importance of the island to move forward by reinterpreting traditional paradigms.

His outward-looking, inclusive and modern way of thinking has won him strong support from the island's educated middle-class, the tourism industry, and, naturally, the families of the bombings' victims.

In the third corner is I Gde Winasa, the current regent of Jembrana who presents himself as the underdog -- the David among the Goliaths -- in the election. With his populist platform, which, among other things, includes free education and free health services, Winasa won a landslide victory in Jembrana's regent election.

Now, he is using the same political marketing gimmicks to woo voters in the gubernatorial election. He is the only regent on the island who refuses to use a luxurious car and demands his subordinates to do the same. His progressive -- albeit controversial -- policies have earned him more accolades than those of all the other candidates combined.

His no-nonsense attitude, sharp jokes, approachable demeanor and result-oriented, progressive policies have earned him a special place among the island's student activists and, naturally, the people from poor areas and low-income families.

Unfortunately, his candidacy has been embroiled recently with questions over his religious faith. Several groups have publicly accused Winasa of following two different religions; Islam and Hinduism. Leaflets, featuring an alleged copy of Winasa's marriage document, in which he declared his faith as Islam, have been pasted on walls, electricity poles and busy intersections in Denpasar.

However, even these glowing candidates failed to elicit an enthusiastic response from Nata.

"Not a single candidate has managed to make me makleteg so far," Nata said.

Makleteg is a Balinese word generally used to define the overwhelming emotion that compels an individual to do something without having to understand the meaning and reasons behind that particular action first.

It was a surprising assertion from a man who works as a civil servant at the Denpasar Mayor's office. The Mayor, AA Ngr Puspayoga, is a very popular figure among the city's residents and civil servants. His generous attitude, particularly in providing the city's employees with additional allowances and renumerations, has seen him labeled "The Best Mayor" by his subordinates.

He is also the running-mate of Mangku Pastika. Puspayoga's popularity has convinced many political pundits that Mangku Pastika will enjoy a smooth ride in the city's ballot stations.

"Frankly speaking, I am sick and tired of what the candidates have been doing during this unofficial campaign period," Nata said.

"They went everywhere, lending their understanding ears to the public before giving the awaiting constituents money or basic necessities or both. Its more of a charity drive than a campaign drive."

Such actions, Nata argued, reflected the candidates' belief that money could solve anything.

"So, instead of educating the public, informing them of their agendas for the island and how they would achieve those agendas, the candidates, all of them, have spoiled the public with lavish gifts and a lot of money," he said.

Nata isn't alone. Early in the campaign season, one of the island's most respected scholars, Ketut Sumarta, warned the candidates of the fallacies of their campaign methods.

"It will teach the public to care about short-term results only. And in the long-term it will create a society that only cares about its own interest. Eventually, the public will see an election process as an opportunity to gain a profit instead as a chance to make a change," Ketut said.

"The bigger picture -- the common interests of the public and the future of the island -- will be set aside to make room for the interests of an individual, a particular group or a single community. That's scary, isn't it?," he added.

That scary phenomenon, it seems, has already occurred. An aide to one of the candidates disclosed how several villages had approached the candidate and explicitly stated that they were ready to vote for him in exchange for a huge amount of cash.

"They spoke like it was an ordinary business deal. They said that if the candidate donated a certain amount of money to the village, then the village would give him a 100-percent victory in that area," the aide said.

In some parts of Bali, the election process has indeed become nothing more than an ordinary business deal. Made Adnyana Ole, a journalist based in Buleleng, revealed how several communities in the northern coastal regency had displayed very liberal business practices.

"Members of these communities will attend the campaigns of each and every candidate to get the free T-shirts, free meals and free transport allowances distributed at the events," he said.

Moreover, they invite each and every candidate to attend different events organized by the communities in the hope that the candidates will donate a substantial amount of cash.

"They play the candidates the way a master puppeteer manipulates a wooden puppet. They accept money, in fact, they ask for money, yet it doesn't mean they'll give you their votes," Ole said.

This phenomenon has become a common joke told in the island's warung kopi (coffee stalls), where many Balinese men spend their afternoons. Yet, for Nata it clearly wasn't a laughing matter. Instead, it was a strong reason to mourn the future of the island.

"I don't know which candidate I will vote for. I'll probably vote for the one who hasn't campaigned at all," he said.

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