Arghea Desafti Hapsari, Jakarta – Pundits say elections are a prerequisite for democracy, but for others elections are just a business – or a chance to steal power.

Indonesia has been praised for holding three successful, fair and considerably-open general elections after Soeharto's downfall, but the quality of regional democracy in the country is far from ideal, according to experts.

The Constitutional Court currently has at least pending 15 election dispute cases that were filed by defeated regional candidates throughout the country. It has issued verdicts in five cases.

The court – regarded as one of the few successes of Indonesia's political reforms – has accepted nearly 600 petitions to contest election results after the 2009 general election, said a representative.

Wrangling over regional election results reflects people's poor dispositions more than it does a thriving democratic process, said Iberamsjah, a political analyst from the University of Indonesia.

"There are people who are ready to win, but not to lose," he told the The Jakarta Post recently. In some cases, winners won polls through cheating, which prompted losing parties to reject election results, he added.

Indonesia will hold 244 regional elections in 2010. Crowds have resorted to violence in several elections this year.

In May in Mojokerto, East Java, alleged supporters of a individual who was not included on a list of candidates ran amok, burned several cars and smashed the windows of the local representatives council office.

Thousands of people in Banten who supported losing candidates broke into the local representatives council office earlier this year and demanded new elections.

Local elections are not always organized neatly. In 2009, the Constitutional Court voided Bengkulu's 2008 election after the winner was discovered to be a convict.

Iberamsjah said that representative democracy was better than direct democracy, especially in regions. "Regional leaders should be chosen by local representative councils. Elections will be more effective and we will find high-quality people to run regional administrations," he added.

Direct elections were doing more harm than good, he said. "Direct elections cost more. Disputes in regional elections cause horizontal conflicts to escalate. The nation's image in international eyes is marred and we are regarded as people who snap easily."

The direct election system has produced less-than-ideal outcomes, he said. "No tests have been done to discern the (good) candidates apart from others. The candidates who are win (in regional elections) are those who are popular and have money, and not the high-quality candidates," he said.

The Home Ministry is currently evaluating a proposal that will require regional election candidates have organizational experience. Constitutional Court justice Akil Mochtar said that poor management contributed to regional elections problems.

"The election disputes that have been filed at the court show serious and abounding problems that have yet to be solved in administering the regional elections," Akil told the Post.

The election disputes are part of a national learning process, he said. "We are still learning and perfecting our democracy."