Indonesia Holds First Democratic Presidential Election
By Alicia Burns
Jul 7, 2004
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Controversy ... Mr Yudhoyono prepares to vote with one of the ballot papers that have thrown the election into confusion. Photo: AP/Prakash Singh | |  etired General Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono captured 34% of the vote in Indonesia’s first democratic presidential election, but failed to garner the majority of votes necessary to win the contest outright. A September run-off election will feature the heavily favored Mr. Susilo and the second place candidate. With the votes still being counted, the race for second is between incumbent President Megawati Sukarnoputri, who won 27% of votes in the July 5th contest, and retired General Wiranto, who collected 22% of the vote, according to the New York Times.
The close race for second place was declared “too close to call” and “will take several days to sort out” according Hank Valentino, an American observer with the International Foundation for Election Systems. General Wiranto’s team is prepared to legally challenge the outcome if he comes in third the New York Times reported.
Elections took place largely without incident. The island nation’s 153 million residents went to the polls after a campaign that pitted Mr. Susilo against Mrs. Sukarnoputri, as well as retired General Wiranto, a controversial figure accused of war crimes by the United Nations. Vice-President Hamzah Haz and Amien Rais, the speaker of the country’s upper house of parliament also campaigned for the presidency, according to the Economist.
In the closing days of the campaign, Mr. Susilo was the front-runner, and polls predicted a decisive victory. According to the Economist, voters liked his status as an outsider with a solid military record and government experience as a cabinet-level minister. In contrast, President Megawati’s tenure is viewed as a disappointment, with corruption still plaguing government, economic growth lagging behind previous levels, and increasing unemployment. Additionally, she is viewed as aloof and lacking an ambitious agenda, according to Lex Rieffel of the Brookings Institute.
Voter turnout reached about 70% according to early estimates, lower than April’s legislative elections, which had an attendance rate of over 80% but still strong compared to western countries like the United States. For the most part, western election monitors praised the elections. Organizing 13,000 islands with over 500,000 polling stations is no easy task, and given the fact that Indonesia is in its 6th year of democracy, the elections were crucial in establishing a precedent for making presidential elections a peaceful democratic institution in the country. Tatak Prapti Pujiati of the Institute For Social and Economic Research told Reuters, “from all the polling stations we observed, 99.2% had smooth voting and counting processes.”
However, the counting process did not occur entirely without problems. A unique feature of the Indonesian voting process is the paper ballot with each candidate’s picture on it; to vote one is supposed to punch, with a nail, the section of the ballot under the picture of the candidate of their choice, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. One problem vote counters stumbled upon in the process of tallying was the double punching of some ballots, which occurred when voters did not completely unfold their ballots before punching them. According to Voice of America News, some polling stations did not count such ballots, but others did. By the time the Electoral Comission issued a clear policy on how to handle such ballots, many polling stations had closed. The disputed ballots are in the process of being recounted.
An additional area of concern for the country is neighboring East Timor’s reaction to the elections. An independent country since 1999, East Timor was occupied by Indonesia for over 20 years, and won its independence in a bloody campaign fought after General Suharto fell from power. Presidential candidate General Wiranto led the armed forces during the withdrawal, when, according to the Heritage Foundation, the military killed nearly 1,400 citizens, and destroyed nearly 75% of East Timor’s infrastructure. He was subsequently indicted by the United Nations for human rights abuses, but no military personnel were ever prosecuted for their actions. On June 30th, the Jakarta Post reported East Timor government officials as saying they would respect the outcome of Indonesia’s elections, regardless of who won.
|
|
