F

orget the Constitutional Court ruling delivered last week that reinstated the President'€™s power to accelerate or impede criminal investigations into House of Representative politicians. The court deserves two thumbs up for easing requirements for independent candidates and single tickets to run in regional elections, the most imminent set for Dec. 9.

For the government, the verdict on single tickets provides relief as there will be no more impediments to our experiment of simultaneous regional elections. Elections in three regencies would have been postponed to February 2017 had the court not jumped to the rescue because only one ticket was eligible in each of the regions.

But the real winner is not the government, which has struggled tooth and nail to keep the elections in 269 regions on schedule, but the people, or specifically voters.

The court ruling on Tuesday clearly protects the people'€™s right to vote from certain parties, not necessarily political, who deliberately tried to hold the democratic events hostage only because they were afraid of losing. Such a buying time game was evident, for example, when a candidate withdrew at in the last minutes, only because his mother did not give him her blessing, forcing the local poll commission to extend registration to find a contender for the incumbent.

Uncontested elections can take place if only one ticket is eligible, usually because the others fail to pass administrative screening. We imagine that without the verdict, which is final and binding, those who wish to boycott the Dec. 9 simultaneous elections but fail will make a second and third attempt.

The court has indeed saved democracy and the day. Democracy allows people to choose only the best to lead them to prosperity. Democratic elections give people the choice to either keep their faith in an incumbent or push for a change of guard '€” peacefully '€” if the incumbent cannot live up to their expectations.

People'€™s search for the best leaders oftentimes falls by the wayside because of stringent requirements set by politicians, who deliberately restrict the race for regional head posts. They set the bar too high for alternative candidates who do not represent and, hence, are beyond the control of political parties.

The 2014 Regional Election Law, a product of the politicians, sets the threshold of popular support for an independent candidate at between 7.5 and 10 percent of the population. In its ruling, the court said the benchmark minimum amount of support would be based on the final voters'€™ list.

Certainly, the court decision to relax the condition will allow more alternative candidates to contest elections. Hope now looms for the good guys to turn to politics and bring change at the expense of the powerful but corrupt, thanks to the verdict.

In its consideration, the court said, '€œthe existence of independent candidates is a driving force that will make political parties healthier'€ and '€œtheir involvement is an ideal manifestation of democracy'€, which everybody who believe in democracy would agree. Now may the best win.