Harry Bhaskara, Jakarta – Dressed in his Golkar Party uniform and belting out political slogans to passing motorists, Indra Piliang knows all too well the stress of public campaigning in the lead up to legislative elections.
"It seems we not only need organizations like the KPK (Corruption Eradication Commission) and the KPU (General Elections Commission), but also psychiatrists to look after those candidates running for election," he said.
His colleagues, Saiful Mujani from the Indonesian Survey Institute, Faisal Basri from the University of Indonesia and the Indonesian Community for Democracy (KID) chairman Ignas Kleden, exploded in laughter at his comments.
Indra had just returned from a campaign trip to West Sumatra where he attended a discussion organized by KID. Traveling abroad for campaign activities and personally visiting constituents at their homes is not uncommon for Indra and the hundreds of candidates competing in the upcoming elections.
While in the past candidates were less inclined to meet their constituents personally, and consequently often had very little knowledge of the province they represented, a recent Constitutional Court ruling has changed the nature of campaigning. The new ruling states that the candidate with the most votes wins the seat, nullifying the long-standing system in which political party bosses picked their supporters for the position.
The new ruling will bring legislators closer to their people as political awareness matures, Indra said. "It took me more than six months to visit just two of the eight cities in my province,"he said.
This travel-intensive schedule for many candidates perhaps explains why there were so few legislators at a Feb. 25 discussion organized by the Political Party Dialog Community (KDPP). The discussion titled "2009 Election: Political Consolidation in the Face of Global Economic Crisis" ended on a positive note.
Saiful said as the role of political parties backed off a little and civil society rose in prominence, law-making processes would most likely meet people's demands more frequently.
The people trust democracy, he said, but had less trust in political parties. "The public trusts the mass media more than political parties," said Saiful.
The public on the whole, he said, was democratic in its outlook. "This is shown by the 400-odd local elections held peacefully throughout the country over the past few years," Saiful said.
Ignas said people should not be overly optimistic about the prospect of legislators distancing themselves from political parties.
He said to the audience that political leadership comprised of a strong constituency, integrity, and competency. Legislators in the past have shown they have good rapport with their constituencies but also that they possess the latter two leadership elements. Faisal said he believed the post-election political hand over would run smoothly, unless there was a blunder at the top level or unnecessary fear generated among voters.
"In his speech last month in Palembang, Ginandjar Kartasasmita said Indonesia was about to enter a double crisis in 2009 that would be more severe than 2008," he said, referring to the chairman of the House of Regional Representatives.
Indonesia has been less affected by the global crisis compared to other Asian countries because its economy is less tied up to the international financial system, he said.
"In a sense, our 'primitive' economy has served as a savior in this crisis," said Faisal. One of the problems, he said, was our over reliance on assistance from foreign countries.