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Letters: Sad and happy as the party ends

In a social context, partygoers are usually happy when the party ends

The Jakarta Post

Thu, July 30, 2009 Published on Jul. 30, 2009 Published on 2009-07-30T12:55:46+07:00

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n a social context, partygoers are usually happy when the party ends. However, in the political context, political partygoers do not always share this sense of happiness - be it in regional elections (pilkada), legislative elections (pileg) or the presidential election (pilpres).

In a political party (competition), the happy party is the one who wins the election. In a pilkada, for example, the supporters as well as the candidates will celebrate their victory as soon as the winner is announced. Then the losing party will do anything to protest the claim.

In the recent pilpres, three pairs have done their best to win the election. These pairs are from different political parties. Now it is almost certain one pair has won the election and will therefore be the ruling party. Another pair, who has informally voiced its defeat, is going to take the opposition seat, which is reasonable and laudable. The other pair, unfortunately, is still undecided. Are they confused?

For the sake of the structure of Indonesia's democracy, the last pair or contestant should act as a gentleman, be prepared to admit defeat, accept the defeat dengan legowo, wholeheartedly, congratulate the winning pair, join the opposition group, and build a much better democracy in our beloved country. This country is not going to end in five years' time.

Agus Satoto
Bekasi, West Java