“It’s payback time, and payback time is hell."
Perhaps this line suits to describe the start of the classic tale like of political dirty tricks, examples of which are strewn across the battlefield eversince the war trumpet is blown during the Presidential race. The red and white coalition whose candidate, Prabowo Subianto, former son in law of Suharto, was narrowly defeated in July's presidential election, gears up to use the available political machinery to screw their political enemies. Yup, the world of political intrigue with backstabbing revenge against troublesome foes and threats against friends all in the name of winning an election or consolidating political power has robbed the citizens to exercise their direct vote to elect their regional heads. The hostile political revenge will likely to take the new government into their hostage by their politicking maneuvers.
After hours of debate and backroom dealings, the majority of the legislators of whom come from the Red and White Coalition voted to pass the Regional Election bill, scrapping direct elections for local officials and return to the electoral system in place under the former New Order regime. The epic drama in what was regarded widely as the battle of the two opposing sides during the previous presidential race came into climax when members of Democratic Party walked out of the arena. The much predicted scenario put a twist into the fight, placing the Great Indonesia Coalition into limbo. The Democrat has cunningly played their last wild card, sealing the victory for Gerindra and its allies. It is the success of banal political maneuver to return electoral authority from the people to the party leadership in the face of electoral defeat in the presidential election. Oh, revenge is indeed a dish best served cold!
The heartbreaking epic drama thus can be perceived as a setback to the country's democracy. Robbing our rights to choose our leaders is a blatant betrayal of our trust. Ignoring the public support endorsed by several independent polls that had shown a clear majority of Indonesians were in favor of keeping the direct elections, the defeated faction stood their ground to secure their own selfish interest. The apparent anguish and grief over bitter defeat were far more intense that drove these politicians to act against the public's will. It's like watching Shakespeare's Hamlet in which revenge and jelousy drove its main character mad and led him to downfall.
As a result, we are now left without any choice but to accept any leader who garners support from the politicians whose loyalty never sides with the people. We no longer can participate in the democratic process altogether, rendering all the progress and cost of the last 10 years in vain. It's like after a decade of enjoying the freewill to choose our 'partner' who will be with us in the long run, we are now forced to marry with a partner appointed by the regional legislative council.
It's so frustrating. It means we will no longer be able to see the little-known figures rise to power via direct elections for their clean track record, good performance and servant oriented leadership. It will hard for us now to witness figures such as Ridwan Kamil, Ahok, or Jokowi be elected as leaders.
The vote also represents an early defeat for president-elect Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo, whose party had voted against the change, posing a threat that he will constantly face a struggle to govern effectively. It highlights the massive political challenges that lie ahead for his government. He will have a hellish battle in passing any policies such as tackling the ballooning fuel subsidy in the House. His rivals are determined to bring him down on his knees. They will remain staying as thorns for the new government.
The deliberation of the bill also amplifies the failure of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyo to leave a legacy of flourishing democracy. Instead, his ambiguity stance over the bill took a dramatic turn when his party successfully staged a plot twist in the plenary session. His party's 148 out of 560 House seats, held the balance of power. Unfortunately, the Democratic Party's half-hearted support drawn ire as they foolishly after such an exhausting long debate walked out of the plenary session. It was as if we watched the formerly fierce warriors at the beginning of the war, ran off cowardly, dropping their swords and just watched the slaughter of our rights to take place.The already outnumbered parties that genuinely wanted to keep direct elections, instantly fell in one smooth swoop. It's really tragic.
SBY was considered failing to use his prerogative authority to retract the bill from being deliberated while he had the power to do so. He is the first president to be directly elected by the people but he is also the person seems responsible for the setback in our democracy to the New Order regime and instills strongly centralized politics. This is the worst legacy he left behind that quickly drowns his achievements. Instantly, Indonesians too to social media to lash out their anger and disappointment. The hashtag #shameOnYouSBY was trending at the top on Twitter. It's definitely not a good way to leave an office in the wake of such controversy.
However, despite the bruising loss, several pro-democracy and anti-corruption watchdogs have kept the flame alive. They already vowed they would seek a judicial review of the legislation if passed. They hope the more sensible Constitutional Court that have impartially gave verdict over the previous Presidential election dispute will have better judgement over the case. People will likely seek justice through this last defense of justice to have the story concluded.
Also, personally we still have the chance to take back our control. Legislative, Executive and Judiciary are perhaps the three most significant pillars of democracy. But in the media era as of today, media has even stronger than these three pillars. The only hope of development of our country is the active and genuine performance of the fourth pillar, the Media. It has important role in shaping public opinion, ringing an alarm bells in cases of abuse of plwer, corruption, etc.In turn public opinion, is the ultimate check in the checks and balance system designed to ensure equal and balanced authorities between the three pillars. As long as the media favors the public and reveals nothing but the truth, I think we would be just fine.
So, regardless of the rise of political revenge in our country now, we as the constituents have our voice amplified throughout the media. With public pressure, let's just hope our esteemed politicians act maturely to serve us instead of blackmailing the public with their nasty politicking. We give them the power, surely we can deactivate it if they abuse it. We are their masters and not vice versa.
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