Jakarta (Antara Babel) - The General Elections Commission (KPU) on Tuesday evening had announced Joko Widodo (Jokowi)-Jusuf Kalla (JK) pair as the winner of the Indonesian July 9, 2014, presidential race against their competitor Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa duo.
Jokowi and JK, who will be inaugurated as the president and vice president on October 20 for a five-year period until October 20, 2019, are expected to implement their programs and promises made during the pre-election campaigns.
"The president-elect should remain controlled and remember the promises he had made during the pre-election campaigns. Support and criticism against the president-elect will make democracy--as an essential means of popular control on public affairs-- function maximally," political observer Ari Dwipayana of the Gadjah Mada University said.
Ibrahim, a political observer in Pangkalpinang, Riau Islands Province, agreed, saying that the president-elect must give substance to the promises he had made to the people during campaigning.
"The president-elect should now start proving his promises to the people of Indonesia. As a leader who holds the people's mandate, he has to prove and realize his promises and programs," he said on Tuesday.
Earlier, before the KPU had made the announcement, the Indonesian Business Employer Association (Apindo) said that it will demand the president-elect to implement his promises during his leadership in the coming five years.
"Whoever is elected president must realize the promises he had made. As state's citizens, we also ask the president-elect to realize the promises he had made for businesses to improve the country's economy," Deddy Widjaya, the Apindo chairman for West Java, asserted in response to the announcement of the KPU.
He expressed hope that all parties would be wise to accept the results of the 2014 presidential elections. "If we had differences in choices yesterday, today we have to be reunited with a new spirit as we are now facing a new chapter that will begin shortly," noted Deddy.
In the post-election period, guaranteed security and conducive conditions are very important for economic and political stability, as well as for the stability of the people's social life. For the business world, conducive security and investment climate are keys to success, he explained.
Deddy added that the market had remained conducive after the KPU announcement, where the rupiah exchange value against the US dollar remained below Rp12 thousand. "The stocks market had also been relatively conducive on Tuesday evening," Deddy remarked.
"We hope this condition could be maintained, and we are optimistic this condition will remain," the Apindo chairman for West Java added.
In order to preserve conducive condition, security stability should be maintained and parties divided during the presidential race should reunite.
"Rift and disunity created as a result of differences of preference with regard to presidential elections should be ended soon. The president has been elected by the majority votes. For this purpose, there is no other choice than to support the winning party. Road must be opened wide for the president-elect to serve the people," political observer Ibrahim said.
The KPU in its plenary session on Tuesday had announced that the Jokowi-JK pair had won 70,997,833 or 53.15 percent and the Prabowo-Hatta duo had secured 62,576,444 or 46.85 percent of the 133,574,277 total valid votes. The valid votes account for about 70.19 percent of the 190,307,134 registered eligible voters.
Ibrahim explained that although it was impossible for the presidential poll results to satisfy all sides, the democratic mechanism had been implemented optimally. Winning or losing is normal, and now is the time for all sides to put their competition aside and begin to build national reconciliation.
He called on the supporters of Jokowi-JK pair not to indulge in excessive celebrations because this was the beginning of a great job to build the country. On the other hand, the Prabowo-Hatta supporters were also expected to respect the people's decision and to accept it wholeheartedly.
Prabowo-Hatta camp should not be too immersed in grief because they still remain the best sons of the nation. The country still needs their fresh ideas even if they are not the top leaders of the nation.
"The president-elect must develop the country on par with the advanced nations. The defeated candidates in the meantime are expected to assist the president-elect in developing the country by providing constructive ideas in the interest of the nation," Ibrahim said.
Ibrahim said that Jokowi and JK should focus their agenda on fighting corruption, which has rooted among the central and regional government officials.
They should focus on priority agenda and not be trapped by negotiable political mechanism. The camp must put aside the interest of the party for the interest of the nation.
"Jokowi and JK have to prove that they are not the puppets of political parties that had nominated them. They have to convincingly show their support for the common people whom they had considered their political jargon," he added.***1***
