Indonesia Votes: Money Politics in Action

On the 9th of April, Indonesians took part in the first stage of an election many have predicted will take three stages to complete. Since the 1998 riot which brought down ex-President Suharto, elections in the world’s largest Muslim democracy have been far from boring to me because it is full of surprises. In the 1999 election for example, many had thought Megawati would be sworn in as the 4th President of Indonesia. Due to intense politicking and back-room negotiations, that position eventually went to Gus Dur.

This year’s election, with candidates from 38 parties competed for 692 available seats, is no different. With approximately 2 weeks to go before the final result will be released, the dynamic nature of the election has generated many side stories for the media. For the past few days, both Indonesian print and broadcast media have reported that numerous candidates have been admitted to mental hospital or worse, committed suicide because they are unable to accept the fact that they have lost the election after pouring in billions of rupiah to take part.

What always amazed me, however, are the large number of interesting personalities that despite their lack of knowledge, manage to obtain so much support on the ground. Among them is Prabowo Subianto, Suharto’s son-in-law. 11 years ago, when his father-in-law fell from power, so did he. He was dishonorably discharged by the military and left the country for a self-imposed exile. Sometime last year, if I don’t recall wrongly, his face started to appear in the media, promoting his newly established party, Gerindra. In fact, just last week, he was interviewed by a Singapore newspaper on his political aspiration.

After reading the excerpts from the interview, I wonder why many Indonesians regard him as one of the ideal candidates for the Presidency. He doesn’t seem to know many things that a common people should know, let alone a Presidential candidate. He mentioned something about Singapore having a pro-welfare government when it is not really true. He talked about the current administration’s lack of economic strategy when in reality, SBY and his ministers have stabilized the economy to a level unseen since reformasi. And most importantly, he didn’t share a single thing about his strategy if elected as President.

For a moment, I thought of calling up my Indonesian friends to find out if they supported him and if yes, the justifications for doing so. Then I realized I have just found the answers. Politics in Indonesia is driven more by wealth rather than strategy. If 2 people compete for a seat in the parliament with A having better strategy than B but B having more money than A, it is highly likely that B will get the seat. Well, that’s the sad reality of Indonesia politics and looking at the literacy level of the population, this will probably remain for a foreseeable future.