REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, By: Yudi Latif

Tens of millions of Indonesian people went to polling stations to choose candidates who are expected to meet the criteria and also to punish them who are proven betraying.

In a country that has large population and wide areas, every citizen cannot always get direct opportunity, which is same and effective in governmental process. Half of them have different visions, votes and decisions to the elected candidates. This situation produces the representative democracy.

According to Robert A Dhal, an effective representative democracy with good principles and democratic institutions needs at least six requirements.

First, government policy must be conducted by the elected representatives through general election. Second, the election must free, fair and periodic. The elected representatives must through free, fair and periodic election without violence and compulsion.

Third, citizens can give their opinions and aspirations freely without fear and threats of punishment. Fourth, the availability of alternative sources of information outside government's control.

Fifth, citizens have rights to form unions, associations and independent organizations, including political parties and interest groups. Sixth, citizens must stop to discriminate ethnic, religion and social class. Everyone must be given the right and opportunity to develop democratic institution. General election is main basis of system of representative democracy

Why democracy requires election? In a democracy, government officials should be elected, not appointed, because every citizen basically has same right to participate in politics. However, in a modern democratic country, not all citizens are directly involved in making policy and controlling government's agenda. In this situation, the effectiveness of citizens' participations in politics is represented by state officials.

It must be a guarantee that the representative can be responsible to the mandate of people. It will be difficult if he must arrange some agendas and adopt policies independently outside people's hopes. To harmonize the representatives with people's mandate, they should be elected by people, so that they could run the power responsibly and people could punish them if they ignored the mandate and did not choose them in next election.

The result, if people still confused about who and what party they should choose, at least they had to take a stand to refuse candidates who betray people's mandate.

Democracy can only run well when it was accompanied by the presence of capable citizens who can fulfill their obligations as citizens. To become a capable citizen, you should understand that transactions in public institutions contained corrosive and corruption power for national development. That is because the money not only allocating goods, but also affecting human attitudes and good values that are bought and sold.

Political choice is not for sale as it concerns the rights and obligations of citizens, which cannot be compared as individual property that can be sold. It must be seen as public accountability. If you sold your vote, it made public affairs controlled by personal interests. It means, the 'res publica' (public affairs) is controlled by 'res priva (personal interests).

We cannot expect the presence of representative democracy and political leaders who are capable without capable citizens' participation. When the Election Day comes, the civic responsibility must be proved by choosing candidate who has good track record, good integrity and capability. Or, if you are difficult to find out such candidate, at least do not choose ex-betrayer.

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