Jeremy Wagstaff and Puspa Madani, Jakarta – More than half of Indonesia's political parties – all but one of them without a seat – have refused to ratify last month's election, citing allegations of fraud. While delaying by at least a week official release of the results, the setback, analysts and politicians say, isn't likely to do any lasting damage to the political process.
The election commission – dominated by representatives of the 48 political parties – was due to ratify the results Monday. That would have confirmed the allocation of seats in the country's parliament. This 500-member body would then form the bulk of an electoral college due to elect a new president later this year. Release of the results has been awaited for more than a month, mostly because of technical delays. Now, president B.J. Habibie has given a separate body, the official election watchdog Panwaslu, a week to investigate the claims. He then has the authority to approve the results himself, if necessary overriding the commission.
Monday's boycott wasn't unexpected. Two thirds of the parties had to approve the election results to make them official: On the day, 27 refused to sign and four didn't turn up to vote. The smaller parties are using their votes on the commission as "a bargaining chip," says Eric Bjornlund of the US-based National Democratic Institute.
The NDI and other election monitors say that while they have found some evidence of fraud, there is no sign it would have significantly altered the result: Those 17 parties who did sign account for 93% of the vote. Says Andi Mallarangeng, a government-appointed election commission member: "The result of the election has been acceptable and credible."
The election watchdog isn't likely to be sympathetic to claims of fraud either. Members don't believe fraud was widespread, and won't spend more than a week investigating claims unless they are specific – and new. That means that the results of the election, announced by the election commission's sister body earlier this month, could become official early next month and allow political bargaining to begin in earnest.
Still, the news adds another layer of uncertainty to an increasingly drawn-out political process. The markets sensed the growing unease: Jakarta stocks fell by 5.3%, while the rupiah continued a slide begun last week. It was quoted at 6,995/7,015 against the dollar in late local trade compared with 6,800/6,880 at Friday's local close.
Monday's events mark another low in the short but controversial history of the election commission. Formed as an umbrella body linking official appointees, public figures and party representatives, it has been plagued by allegations of corruption, political self-interest and incompetence. Leaders of the smaller parties denied they were rejecting the results because they had won no seats. "No, no, no, it's nothing to do with it," said Nugroho Imam Santoso, deputy chairman of the Abul Yatama party, which won 0.2% of the vote. "We just want to be sure the election is free and fair."
Even the commission chairman himself, respected former general Rudini, came under fire Monday for joining those refusing to ratify the results. As a member of one political party which won no seats, "I was asked by my central board to do so," he said. Fellow commission members were critical: "It's a clear conflict of interest," said Hasballah Sa'ad, who as representative of the National Mandate Party ratified the results.
It is a reflection of the contortions Indonesia has gone through to introduce a credible democratic system after decades of authoritarianism. But when the results are eventually ratified, analysts and diplomats say, the episode will be quickly forgotten as the main political parties open more formal talks about coalition building ahead of the presidential election. What talks have begun have largely revolved around two camps: Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle and incumbent president Habibie's Golkar and Islamic alliance. "This is the real game," said one diplomat. "This episode is a sideshow."