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resident Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was on the Island of Paradise on Friday to open the seventh Bali Democracy Forum (BDF), which is his last as President. The organizers'€™ pride at having delegates from at least 80 countries was tainted by a boycott held by some NGOs against a side event, the Bali Civil Society Forum, as the NGOs said it was not the time for the President to parade Indonesia'€™s achievements after lawmakers passed the controversial Regional Elections Law.

Because of the walkout by Yudhoyono'€™s Democratic Party the election of regional heads was returned to the legislative councils and in a bid for damage control, Yudhoyono issued a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) meant to annul the new legislation.

When opening the BDF the President said he would ask his successor, Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo, to continue the forum, officially stated as an '€œinclusive and open intergovernmental forum on the development of democracy in the Asia Pacific region'€. It aims '€œto promote and foster regional and international cooperation'€ in peace and democracy, '€œbased on sharing experiences and best practices that adhere to [...]equality, mutual respect and understanding'€. So sharing, not lecturing, seems to be the forum'€™s main appeal.

Indeed, Indonesia is in no position to lecture, although we often strut with pride, especially given recent examples like Thailand'€™s return to military rule, formalization of sharia law in Brunei Darussalam, and records of newcomers like Myanmar to the forum. Our press is much freer than in many of Indonesia'€™s neighbors and our government lacks much of its past instinct for suppressing the types of protests being seen on the streets of Hong Kong.

Ours is an exhausting experiment in democracy, but the political battles are still confined to the legislative bodies and to some largely peaceful protests following the highly divisive presidential election.

So should the BDF tradition continue?

Yes '€” if leaders can take home some lessons learned and act on them. Philippines'€™ President Benigno Aquino III, a co-chair of this year'€™s BDF, shared in his address his personal reflections on the temptations that tilt leaders toward authoritarian rule, even in the nation earlier run by his mother, the former president Corazon Aquino, who had galvanized millions in ASEAN nations to dump tyrannical leaders who dispensed with dissenters, including her own husband, in cruel ways.

On Friday reports quoted President Aquino saying, '€œIn a totalitarian regime things get done faster, whether they are right or wrong, precisely because there are no checks and balances ['€¦] such a regime, one divorced from the desires of its people, will have weak foundations.'€ He told fellow leaders that frustration often '€œbreeds the temptation to consider an authoritarian method'€. He added, '€œHowever ['€¦] with the lack of consensus and consent from the people, such a mode [...] may be detrimental to society in the long run.'€

Continuing the BDF would be fruitful if it could remind leaders that relatively few citizens romanticize past authoritarian styles, since their long, stable-looking governments turned out to be pressure cookers of pain, discontent and disgust.