Failure of reconciliation, a taster for the pawns Adisti Sukma Sawitri  ;   A staff writer at The Jakarta Post

JAKARTA POST,  07 Oktober 2014

Even before president-elect Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is inaugurated, it has become clear there is no easy way to run his five years of tenure. In just two weeks, the Red-and-White Coalition, initially built as a vessel to nominate former army general Prabowo Subianto in the presidential election, has cemented a parliamentary bloc against Jokowi’s coalition through the ruthless passage of the Regional Elections (Pilkada) Law and the establishment of new leaders at the House of Representatives. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his Democratic Party have proven they are more interested in investing in their future political clout than siding with the people. While trying to save direct elections by issuing a government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) to annul the law, his goodwill has become fruit for further skepticism. Yudhoyono’s party was a useful sidekick to the Red-and-White Coalition (earlier commanding 282 seats) with their walkout during the law’s deliberation. In the session to decide the new House leadership, the party faction — less than half of their previous batch appearing — obtained a deputy speaker post alongside representatives from the Red-and-White Coalition. Therefore Prabowo’s coalition practically commands 353 seats including the Democrat’s 61 seats, despite Yudhoyono’s claim to be a “balancing” force. Yudhoyono’s Perppu may now seal support from the Democrats to repeal the Pilkada Law. However, unlike in the previous House, in which they were the largest party, the Democrats’ favor is currently not enough. Jokowi’s coalition of 207 seats is still at the mercy of Golkar Party members (91 seats), some of whom supported the direct elections during the controversial Pilkada voting, or others from smaller parties like the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the United Development Party (PPP). Judicial review petitions at the Constitutional Court to scrap articles regulating elections via regional legislative councils (DPRDs) may promise a better chance to amend the law. While Yudhoyono, the Democrats and the Red-and-White Coalition are the main culprits for the robbery of people’s right to vote in local elections, Jokowi and his coalition of parties led by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) are also responsible for failing to show leadership after the presidential election. As president-elect and the winner of the legislative election, Jokowi and the PDI-P failed to reconcile the polarizing of the House and society caused by the elections. They have placed themselves as the victor, eagerly anticipating the award — the transfer of power from Yudhoyono’s administration — while making no real action to bring the country together. Securing 53 percent of about 133 million votes during the election, Jokowi and the PDI-P have overvalued their victory. Jokowi and his running mate Jusuf Kalla may have beaten Prabowo and Hatta Rajasa by 8 million votes, large enough to give a decisive win even after being challenged at the Constitutional Court. But the number is merely 6 percent of the total number of voters. Prabowo and Hatta received support from almost half of Indonesian voters. The PDI-P, which garnered 18.95 percent of votes during the legislative election, was no better a winner than Yudhoyono’s Democrats who secured 20.85 percent in 2009. Despite these slim margins of victory, the PDI-P has shown no serious attempts to gain more allies at the House. Inviting only the PPP and the PAN to its national assembly in Semarang, party chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri gave both a cold welcome by reminding them that the invitations were no assurance of ministerial posts. Such an ungraceful political gesture seemed even more like arrogance as Jokowi had announced that he would give up almost half of the posts in his Cabinet to political parties, even those from outside his coalition. Jokowi has followed Yudhoyono’s conservative tradition of trading ministerial posts for strong government, which seems not to be good enough for Megawati. Megawati as party chief and the country’s former president has refused to repair her relationship with Yudhoyono, which has been sour for a decade ever since the latter, once serving in her Cabinet, beat her in two presidential elections. In a stalled lobby between the Democratic Party and the PDI-P to form a coalition to secure the House leadership last week, Megawati still refused to reconcile with Yudhoyono. Jokowi and the PDI-P have always claimed each attack from other parties as a betrayal of the people’s voice. What they may not realize is that winning elections is not like a winning a jackpot. Election winners are not only granted power, but also acquire the responsibility to protect and accommodate every citizen and element in the country, including those who don’t support them. If they are always calling for people’s action to make up for their political ineptitude, it will be an exhausting five years for citizens. Efforts to challenge the Pilkada Law at the Constitutional Court may only be a start. Each parliamentary failure at the House may spawn another unpopular law ahead. In the end, voters are left to save themselves from the harm of the failures. Praising Jokowi and the PDI-P and condemning those who oppose him will not help the presidentelect to win any cause. Jokowi and the PDI-P should avoid using people as their political pawn like the Red-and-White Coalition did when they revoked direct elections in the Pilkada Law. In order to do this, Jokowi should initiate a bold move to start reconciliation. As the next president, he should make sure that when he makes a decision, he considers all Indonesian citizens, not only his voters, or even his political party. Because each time he disappoints his people, he wilts another hope in their hearts. ●