STILL remember Abdul Gafur? The New Order regime figure, who wrote biographies of former president Suharto and his late wife, just seemed to vanish into thin air when the reform movement hit Jakarta. It turns out that he returned to his hometown of Ternate in North Maluku. Once there, he didn't just sit still but put himself forward for the position of governor. And amazingly enough, he won the election on Thursday last week.

But there were publ