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here are concerns that the new government will face a period of political instability as soon as president-elect Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo and vice president-elect Jusuf Kalla take office on Oct. 20. Given that their detractors are ruling the roost in the House of Representatives, fears loom that the House, dominated by opposition to the incoming administration, will hold new government programs or draft budgets hostage, rendering Jokowi'€™s government ineffective and lacking credibility.

We are not being alarmist, but the lust for power blatantly displayed in the House over the past week signals such a scenario could become reality.

The market reaction to the squabbling augurs the damage the political divide will do to the Indonesian economy, which also happens to be bearing the brunt of global pressure. The Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) fell below the psychological level of 5,000 for the first time in about three months on Friday, while the rupiah weakened to 12,144 per US dollar. Capital flight reached Rp 7 trillion (US$576 million) in only a span of nine days.

Unsurprisingly, Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) chairman Suryo Bambang Sulisto and other business players have called for a quick end to the political mudslinging, which they say will only generate uncertainty. Such concerns should be taken into account as the business sector, according to Suryo, contributes 70 percent to state revenue.

A series of dramas before and after the new 560 House members were installed on Wednesday are evident of the politics of anger, if not vengeance, and unfortunately by democratic means. Holding 353 out of 560 seats at the House, the Red-and-White Coalition, comprising the Golkar Party, the Gerindra Party, the Democratic Party, the National Mandate Party (PAN), the United Development Party (PPP) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), has easily swept the House speaker and four deputy speaker posts in a mechanism it set up in favor of itself.

The coalition has reportedly also allocated among its members leadership posts in the House'€™s 11 commissions and supporting bodies, and has vowed to take all the leadership jobs in the People'€™s Consultative Assembly (MPR).

If the coalition continues unchallenged in seizing control of the House and MPR, the temptation to block the programs of the new government and direct the course of national policies will be difficult to resist.

The worst-case scenario is that the tyranny of the majority will step-by-step undermine the fruits of reform, the fight against corruption and, finally, our hard-won democracy.

The stakes are too high as in the end, only Indonesia'€™s 240-million population will suffer. A nation tipped to become the world'€™s seventh-largest economy in the world by 2030 will plunge into an abyss, sapping the country'€™s efforts to increase human development.

Reconciliation is the keyword and this can start with everybody supporting our new legitimate national leadership, without sacrificing their differences.