T

here is nothing more convenient in politics than having a common enemy. More valuable than friends, mutual foes turn rivals into allies.

What has been a blasé, issueless campaign period was supercharged with the announcement of Jakarta Governor Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo'€™s nomination.

Like a mechanical hare bolting ahead of the pack, the naming of Jokowi as the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle'€™s (PDI-P) presidential candidate has given a focal point to the political greyhounds to chase.

The presidential election may be four months away, but political parties know that every vote cast for the PDI-P in the April 9 legislative election is a vote of confidence for Jokowi.

The announcement of Jokowi'€™s candidacy was a calculated move by the PDI-P, with the party assuming the move would considerably boost its return at the polls.

A Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) survey released in November predicted that the PDI-P'€™s electability rating would shoot from 17.6 percent to nearly 30 percent with Jokowi as the party'€™s candidate.

The barrage has begun, yet those looking for skeletons in the governor'€™s closest have so far only been able to come up with a few bare bones.

Character assassinations have proved futile, only fueling Jokowi'€™s popularity further. Besides, Jokowi is not the type to take a private jet on a jaunt to a tropical Indian Ocean resort with two actresses half his age.

In terms of political ideas, there is little ammunition to assail the governor. Other than the normative views of the layman pluralist, he has not indicated any divisive platform.

Conservatives have tried and will continue to censure his religious credentials. But the fact the man prays and can serve as an imam in a mass prayer, as was the case last Thursday at the Muhammadiyah office in Jakarta, will be enough for most Muslim voters.

The only recourse opponents have is to attack his and the PDI-P'€™s record and take aim at the credibility of either.

Last week, a civil suit was filed against Jokowi for breaching his promise to complete his term as governor.

The week prior, the text of the so-called '€œBatu Tulis'€ agreement between PDI-P chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri and Gerindra Party chief patron Prabowo Subianto was leaked.

The aim was to discredit the PDI-P for allegedly reneging on its promise to support Prabowo'€™s presidential bid after the latter backed Megawati in the 2009 presidential election.

Both efforts produced just a few weary headlines.

As the situation becomes more frantic two weeks before the polls, political parties are contemplating alternative strategies. All have the common goal of denting Jokowi'€™s popularity and ensuring the PDI-P does not run away with the April 9 election.

Generals and politicians who would not normally stomach each other are going beyond their egos and forming very short-term alliances of convenience that are based along the lines of '€œanything but Jokowi'€ and '€œanything but
the PDI-P'€.

Nothing has yet appeared on the horizon, but behind the scenes talks are afoot. '€œPolitics makes strange bedfellows,'€ as they say.

What is of immediate importance is ensuring the validity of the vote 24 hours after the count.

With over 560,000 polling stations across the archipelago, ensuring the representation of witnesses and consistency of vote returns as they are reported from subdistrict, district and provincial levels is a daunting task.

Unlike previous elections where ballot boxes have been made of hard material, this year ballot boxes are made of cardboard.

'€œNow the KPU has a bigger budget, but it opts for cardboard?'€ queried senior PDI-P secretary-general Tjahjo Kumolo, referring to the General Elections Commission. He added that since 1955, ballot boxes had used wood, zinc or aluminum.

Even more critical in this age of social media and instant reporting will be the first few hours after the polls close.

With the popularity of '€œunofficial'€ quick counts, television stations will be airing final predictive tallies as the polls close.

The KPU has issued a regulation forbidding the announcement of quick count results two hours after the polls close at 1 p.m. at the earliest.

But given the temptation to be the first to report, the notion of quick tallies not being immediately reported is questionable.

The potential risk is that most television stations will be subscribing to just one or two sources.

At present, it is known that a particular survey institute has acquired a contract with seven television stations. Another survey institute, known to be cooperating with the former, has also sold the rights to airing its quick count with another television station.

With television being the primary source of news, the threat of opinion making in the poll results before any official tally is announced is high.

Hence, the public will be conditioned for several days that a certain party had acquired the third highest number of votes based on the quick counts, yet when the official results are announced, that party will be fourth. Either by design or reflex, one can imagine the accusations that will fly and the uproar that will ensue.

However, the Indonesian voting public is now more mature and aware. Just as much as people are encouraged to cast their vote, their activism during the election for any party will also be important in ensuring that it is a truly honest and fair election.