Last minute threats

Stupid and stubborn! Sorry to have to use such a harsh expression in describing the General Elections Commission’s (KPU) total failure to learn from its chaotic handling of the electoral roll problem from the April legislative elections.

It was only after two of the three presidential candidates showed their anger and implied they might boycott or reject the results of Wednesday’s presidential election that the commission responded to their complaints over the farcical list. We hope that commission members realize the future of a nation – dubbed the world’s third-largest democracy – is in a great danger just because of their incompetence and arrogance.

It was indeed a great relief, but at the same time very regrettable, that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono paid serious attention to his two rivals’ complaints only after he realized that his possible victory – as predicted by all pollsters – would come under question if he continued to disregard the objections from Vice President Jusuf Kalla and Megawati Soekarnoputri, and their running mates.

Fortunately, Indonesia has the Constitutional Court, which has the final say on any Constitution-related cases. The court late Monday afternoon ordered the KPU to allow unregistered voters to vote simply by showing their identity cards. The court verdict has steered this nation clear of possible political chaos, thanks to the KPU’s last-minute decision and the readiness of President Yudhoyono and his rivals to compromise for the sake of the nation.

When two candidates, Kalla and Megawati, on Sunday night scolded and gave the KPU 24 hours to revise the electoral roll, which both described as “chaotic”, the commission and even the President seemed to pay little attention. However, after rumors and speculation spread that the two candidates might boycott or reject the results of the July 8 election, the KPU totally changed  its stubborn stance and President Yudhoyono made the decision in response to his two rivals’ demands.

Many Indonesians were critical of the accusations made by Kalla and Megawati that the electoral roll was problematic, and regarded it merely as a tactic to blame President Yudhoyono should they fail to beat him on Wednesday. But whatever their motive, they still had a strong point: no one has the right to deny the constitutional rights of eligible Indonesian citizens to vote. Even if the number of unregistered votes or duplicated names of voters was not as high as Kalla and Megawati claimed, we should remember that we cannot expect to have a fair, just, direct and democratic presidential election if we failed to resolve the obstacles.

We believe we have been able to get rid of the biggest obstacles in organizing the election. But this is only a good beginning. All stakeholders of this nation have equal rights and obligations to ensure the election and its counting process proceeds peacefully, democratically, justly and fairly. We should not let ourselves lose democracy as one of our biggest assets. Those who want to ruin our democracy should not be given the chance to practice their evil intentions.