Marvel Comics fictional vigilante Frank Castle is dubbed The Punisher for justifying the use of violence to fight crime. His brutal nature and willingness to kill made him a novel character in mainstream American comic books in the 1970s, but a mediocre movie hero in films in 1989 and 2004.

A third movie is planned for a release in December of this year, but it is unlikely it will win reception as enthusiastic as that for Ayat-ayat Cinta (Verses of Love) among the Indonesian public, although they have shown their true face as the real punishers in many elections.

The latest gubernatorial election in West Java is another event when the punishers made their day. Quick counts conducted by a number of survey institutes revealed that Ahmad Heryawan of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and his National Mandate Party (PAN) running mate Yusuf Macan Effendi, better known as Dede Yusuf, won the governor and deputy governor posts with 40 percent of the vote.

Given the reliability of the quick count method in the previous elections, the official vote count conducted by the West Java election committee will just confirm the victory of Ahmad and Dede. Major parties have expressed surprise with the unlikely performance of young politicians like Ahmad and Dede, who are 10 years or 20 years junior and for sure less experienced than the likes of Governor Danny Setiawan and former Cabinet minister Agum Gumelar.

Young voters might contribute a lot to the loss of old faces in the West Java election, but the work of public punishment cannot be ruled out. Since the direct election was introduced in 2004, many incumbents have felt the pinch of the punishment. Megawati Soekarnoputri, whose administration enacted the direct election to replace the old, prone-to-fraud method of election by Parliament members, was the first to fall prey to the punishers, who refused to vote for her out of disappointment with her performance and failure to meet promises.

Of 211 incumbents who sought a new mandate in regional polls in 2005, 87 of them conceded defeat. Last year, 15 of 31 incumbents who contested regional elections were crashed out, including the governors of West Kalimantan, Southeast Sulawesi and South Sulawesi. The North Maluku gubernatorial election, which remains in dispute, could follow the pattern if the provincial legislature decides in favor of the contender.

Many more incumbent candidates will join the list if they fail to learn from the lesson. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla are not an exception.

In many of the direct elections in the past, voters punished the incumbents who wasted their time, mandate and resources to bring improvement and prosperity.

The voters lost their trust in the incumbents who had been proven to fail and turned to new leaders who they thought could live up to their expectations, even if it was a gamble. New faces have no proven records, but voters cannot afford to plunge into the same hole twice.

Voters tend to punish the incumbents who represent the anti-reform forces or establishment. They want a change and vote for candidates who can convince them they are agents of change.

Thanks to the direct election, Indonesian voters have gradually displayed their maturity. Many, particularly in rural areas, will just follow the order of their leaders, but in urban areas voters resort to the cost-benefit calculation to select their candidates. The swing voters look at the figures, not the political parties nominating the candidates. The more voters rely on their common sense, the bigger a chance for independent candidates to win regional elections.

The message we can read from the West Java election and others is crystal clear. Constituents demand proof of their leaders' preelection promises and cannot wait. Popularity is just a matter of statistics that may go up and down depending on the mood of the pollsters.

What matters most is simply providing jobs to the employed, kerosene or gas to housewives who have been queuing for the energy commodity that suddenly disappears or a fair price of crops to farmers who have been sidelined in the agribusiness. The list of demands will definitely extend as the elections draw near.

Failure to meet the demands will provide contenders with plentiful ammunition to attack the incumbents. But the challengers may not need it; they could just wait for the punishers to finish their job.