The political map of the country is now a bit clearer. After the breakdown of the coalition between the Democrat Party (PD) and the Golkar Party, one thing is certain: That the relationships between PD's chief patron, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) and the Golkar chairman, Vice President Jusuf Kalla (JK) has turned sour.

The public may now expect more than two presidential and vice presidential contestants in the July 8 poll, as expected by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chair, Megawati Soekarnoputri. In the relationship between SBY and JK, meanwhile, it was evident, prior to the legislative elections that JK would bow to strong pressure from within the party and declare himself a potential candidate for president.

For SBY himself, to a certain extent it's understandable, and both he and JK, on separate occasions, have vowed to keep their formal relationship as President and Vice President intact until their tenure ends in October. Even though in one cabinet session JK was absent, and in another session he was present, the mood of the cabinet meeting was of course different.

After the legislative elections were held on April 9, and the results of vote counting trickling in from across the nation, many former legislative candidates have begun showing symptoms of stress and depression upon learning of their poor performance, and some even have resorted to suicide.

In the House of Representatives itself, according to its speaker, Agung Laksono, there are currently 39 priority bills that the current House needs to ratify by the end of its tenure in September. However, the possibility of achieving the target is hindered by the constant lack of attendance as most of legislators were unable to attend the meetings on the bills for various reasons.

In view of the above, one may see that the sour relationship between SBY and JK, the stress and depression faced by the losing legislative candidates, and the doubts that the House will achieve its legislation target, all are caused by psychological effect of the general elections.

In order to overcome this effect, for the sake of the people, both SBY and JK should remember the oath they made during their inauguration in 2004, that they were destined to serve the people and the state from the beginning till the end of their tenure, no matter what kind of challenges stood in their way.

For the losing legislative candidates, they should also remember that becoming a legislator requires strong motivation to serve the people they are supposed to represent, sufficient funds to finance campaigns, and a commitment to accept outcomes of elections gracefully.

M. Rusdi

Jakarta

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