The Jakarta Post
Monday, October 27, 2008

Political Parties in Post-Conflict Areas Should Agree to Peace Forum

Political analyst from Airlangga University Daniel Sparingga has been actively taking part in promoting peace processes in several conflict areas, such as Aceh, Maluku, North Maluku and Papua, since 2000. Last week Daniel facilitated a peaceful campaign for political parties in Central Sulawesi ahead of the 2009 general elections at the invitation of the province's elections body and the Indonesian chapter of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs. The campaign, which was attended by local party leaders, followed up on a peace declaration made July, 21, 2008. The Jakarta Post's Ruslan Sangadji spoke with Daniel in a recent interview in Palu, Central Sulawesi, about the campaign in this post-conflict area.

Question: Why should there be a declaration of peace among leaders of political parties in Central Sulawesi?

Answer: Central Sulawesi is one of the post-conflict areas in Indonesia alongside Aceh, Maluku and North Maluku. Currently, the province is stable, and we should keep it that way. It is not so easy to do this, but we have to be determined. The parties' elites should begin this process by jointly declaring their commitment.

Does this mean that the 2009 elections may potentially create new conflict?

Of course, there is a great potential for conflict during the elections. Even in normal daily life, there is always a possibility of conflict in the province. Tensions may arise anytime in secure areas, let alone in post-conflicts areas such as Central Sulawesi. Therefore, we should be aware. We should prevent conflicts and tensions from turning into violence and anarchy. There should be an agreement by party leaders to anticipate any violence during the elections.

What should the signatories of the declaration do then?

They should gather in a forum and take responsibility to maintain peaceful conditions. The forum is necessary to maintain communications among them. Creating more intensive communications is important for breaking the ice between forum members because of their diverse political interests.

Will the peace-keeping agreement be affective at the grassroots level?

The party leaders should set good examples for their constituents. If they can uphold peace, then their example would be followed by their constituents, and vice versa. We need to prevent communal conflict arising during the elections. The leaders should come to an agreement and declare that even though they have varied interests, they have the same vision: to maintain peace and to improve politics through more peaceful ways.

What messages should the party leaders convey during the campaign?

The parties' political elites and campaign managers should eliminate the sentiments of religion, ethnicity, race and gender, including negative campaigning against each other. We should agree to focus on campaign programs. They should be respectful, so the people will trust them. They should prevent social gaps that may arise because of religion, ethnicity, race and gender. If the elites do not safeguard these positions, there might be communal conflicts turning into violence.

Do the elites agree on your position?

Yes. The elites of the political parties in Central Sulawesi have agreed and have declared some points of consensus to help maintain peace. They held a meeting last July to discuss peaceful campaigning in the 2009 elections.

Local political leaders have firmly and seriously declared that they will maintain communications among the parties to minimize misunderstandings, and prioritize dialogue to bring together diverse political interests and ideologies for the success of the entire process of the election. For that purpose, they have agreed to establish a 2009 Peaceful Election Forum facilitated by the province's election commission.

Do you think this forum could undermine the authority of the election commission and the election supervisory committee, or create new problems in the future?

Everything is on track, and in accordance with the roles of the respective authorities. The election commission works for a successful election, the supervisory committee monitors the elections to prevent cheating and the forum works to maintain stability and to avoid any destructive developments at communal level.

Besides the election commission, the supervisory committee, local leaders and the community, the media is also an important element to disseminate these ideas in accordance with the election regulations.

The media should publish or broadcast balanced news about the election contestants. They should be fair and should not use insensitive words in their publications, that might disadvantage any parties.

If every element works together, I believe the entire process of the election will run smoothly, from the campaign until the vote counting.