More is less<\/p>\n
Last week was certainly not an ordinary week. Two new
\npolitical parties were established and publicly declared. The
\nfirst is the Bung Karno Nationalist Party (PNBK) led by
\nIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan)
\ndissident Eros Djarot, and the other is the Unity, Democracy and
\nNationhood Party (PPDK) led by former state minister of regional
\nautonomy Ryaas Rasyid. Another new party, under the leadership of
\nnoted economist Sjahrir, is scheduled to be declared in the next
\nfew weeks, bringing the number of existing political parties to
\nmore than 180.<\/p>\n
Welcome to democracy. Five years ago nobody would believe such
\nthings could happen in this country. Our democracy is surely
\nmoving. But, on the other side, as our democracy blossoms -- as
\ndemonstrated by the mushrooming number of political parties --
\nproblems and the shortcomings of our political party system are
\nalso revealed.<\/p>\n
First, more is less. The growing number of political parties
\nturn out to be insufficient to accommodate public aspirations.
\nThe fact that new parties continue to be formed is proof that the
\nexisting ones don't fulfill people's expectations. It is sad to
\nsay that some of the new parties are nothing but political
\nventures by fly-with-the-wind adventurer politicians, established
\nfor personal gain, or are products of politicians with too much
\nself-confidence and believe they have, or will get, support from
\nthe masses.<\/p>\n
They should learn from the 1999 elections. More than 40
\npolitical parties participated in the 1999 elections and more
\nthan two thirds could not get enough votes to claim their very
\nexistence. The 1999 elections also revealed that it was the
\ngreedy small parties, which dominated the Election Committee that
\ncreated problems. Some of them have folded, but like zombies many
\nof them are awake again possibly to try another adventure.<\/p>\n
Second, the current system only allows a single entry to the
\nroad to power, and that is through political parties. They have
\nto vie in the general elections to win seats in the legislature.
\nThus, independent candidates have to join existing parties in
\norder to become a legislator. Since we have yet to apply a full
\ndistrict electoral system, the party executive board still has
\nthe power to control the lineup of the candidates. Hence, many
\nbelieve current legislators are not representative of the people
\nbut of the parties.<\/p>\n
The disgruntled public are also upset by the current
\nperformance of political parties, which are colored by scandals
\nand money politics. Disillusioned aspiring politicians have,
\ntherefore, no other way except to form their own party,
\nregardless of its grassroots support.<\/p>\n
Third, with regard to ideology, there is no substantial change
\nin the Indonesian political landscape. Three ideologies remain
\ndominant: Islam, Nationalism and Socialism, with a number of
\nvariants of the three. On the extreme left is the small but
\nmilitant People's Democratic Party (PRD), with the Crescent Star
\nParty (PBB) on the far right. While sitting in the middle with
\ndifferent degrees of leaning, either to the right or to the left,
\nare the rest of the parties. PDI Perjuangan and the Golkar Party
\nshare the same ideology of secular nationalism and are right in
\nthe middle.<\/p>\n
The 1999 elections revealed that political Islam, which gained
\nonly about 15 percent of the votes, is less appealing to the
\nmajority. Although in the last several years we have seen a
\nblossoming of cultural Islam, coupled with a surge of radicalism
\namong young Muslims, we believe it will not drastically change
\nthe future election results.<\/p>\n
In this context, one can understand why most newly established
\npolitical parties will try to win PDI Perjuangan and Golkar
\nvotes, which are riddled with internal conflicts and are prone to
\nincursions. The PNBK will try to steal votes from dissatisfied
\nPDI Perjuangan, while the PPDK (which will rely on Ryaas Rasyid's
\nInstitute for Governmental Studies networks) will offer a safe
\nhaven for Golkar members who want to distance themselves from
\ntheir old past.<\/p>\n
Yet, we still believe that these new parties are unlikely to
\naccommodate public aspirations. Looking around, one can see that
\nthere are still many of Indonesia's brightest and best who prefer
\nto stay out of politics, and given the poor quality of existing
\nparties, their choice is probably right.<\/p>\n
In democracy, we need checks and balances. Those who prefer to
\nstay out of politics are able to join the media, non-governmental
\norganizations or become academics to counter the power of
\ngovernment and political parties. That way the empowered public
\ncan help balance the powers that be. And as our democratization
\nprocess matures, we can always improve our political party system
\nto meet future challenges.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/more-is-less-1447899208",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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