Parties in disarray<\/p>\n
A little more than four years after president Soeharto's
\nforced resignation in May 1998 brought about hopes of political
\nreform, the growth of the party system in Indonesia still gives
\nlittle reason for contentment. Every day the reports that we read
\nor hear about in the media bring us news of rifts in a number of
\npolitical parties that could possibly lead to more serious
\nsplits.<\/p>\n
The United Development Party (PPP), which is led by Hamzah
\nHaz, the Republic's incumbent vice-president, is currently
\nreported to be in danger of breaking up with the formation of a
\nPPP Reformasi under the leadership of Kiyai Haji Zainuddin M.Z.
\nThe real reason why PPP, which among Muslim parties has the
\nlargest number of seats in the House of Representatives, is now
\non the brink of breaking up is not quite clear. There seems to
\nhave been an internal debate within PPP about whether to conduct
\na national working conference of party representatives in 2003,
\nas was decided before, or to postpone it until towards the end of
\n2004, after the next general elections.<\/p>\n
K.H. Zainuddin M.Z., in a statement, pointed to a more
\nprincipled issue, namely the party's position towards the
\nimplementation of syariah (Islamic) law. Zainuddin M.Z. has said
\nthat by advocating the implementation of Islamic law in
\nIndonesia, as Hamzah Haz and his followers seem to be doing, the
\nparty would become unpopular in the public's eye. Efforts to
\npatch up the differences meanwhile seem to have been fruitless.
\nZainuddin formally announced his resignation on Tuesday and,
\nbarring unexpected developments, the new party, PPP Reformasi, is
\nexpected to formally come into being on Jan. 27, with the
\ncomposition of its executive board to be made public in May.<\/p>\n
The problem faced by the National Awakening Party (PKB),
\nformer president Abdurrahman Wahid's party, is more serious
\ncompared to that which is facing PPP. Matori Abdul Jalil, the
\ncurrent minister of defense in President Megawati's cabinet,
\nclaims he is still the party's legitimate chairman. On the other
\nhand former foreign minister Alwi Shihab has positioned himself
\nas the new party chairman.<\/p>\n
Matori's political sin was that he went along with moves
\nwithin the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) last year to
\nreplace president Abdurrahman Wahid with his then vice-president
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri. Gus Dur, as Abdurrahman Wahid is
\npopularly known, and his followers regarded it a serious breach
\nof party loyalty that Matori was present during the MPR special
\nsession, which was convened on July 21 to start proceedings
\ntowards installing Megawati as president of Indonesia. The two
\nfactions are now planning to hold their \"national conferences\" in
\nYogyakarta in the near future. There is always the possibility
\nthat a reunited PKB will emerge at the urging of Nahdlatul Ulama
\n(NU), which is their spiritual base organization.<\/p>\n
Looking at Golkar, that resilient political entity inherited
\nfrom president Soeharto's New Order, it is no secret that various
\nfactions exist within that party. With the Attorney General now
\nhaving declared its chairman, Akbar Tanjung, a suspect in a major
\ncorruption case, it is not surprising that moves have emerged
\nwithin that party to replace its chairman. If that happens it can
\nbe expected that Golkar as a centrist party will break up.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan),
\nthis country's largest party which managed to win 32 percent of
\nthe popular vote in the 1999 general election, is also far from
\nsolid. Senior party leaders who were formerly close to their
\nchairperson, Megawati Soekarnoputri, and were the source of many
\ninnovative ideas, are now marginalized. It seems that the
\npresident's husband, Taufik Kiemas, who is a member of the House
\nof Representatives, has managed to consolidate his position as a
\nstrong figure in the party. Close observers of PDI Perjuangan
\nhave made the pessimistic assessment that the party might have to
\nbe content with a mere 15 percent of the popular vote in the 2004
\ngeneral election.<\/p>\n
On the one hand, the instability of the political parties in
\nIndonesia is not very surprising, given the intense social-
\npolitical dynamics which the country has been experiencing in the
\nlast three years, coupled with complex economic problems. In just
\na little more than three years the country has seen three
\npresidents come and go. The political parties have hardly had
\ntime to adjust and consolidate their ranks and come up with party
\nplatforms that are relevant to the myriad problems Indonesia is
\nfacing.<\/p>\n
The urgent question that needs to be posed at this stage is
\nwhether the main political parties can reorganize themselves
\nbefore the next general election and thus, as transformed
\nparties, make viable contributions to this country's emerging
\ndemocracy. If internal conflicts and instability continue to
\nafflict the main political parties, it can be easily predicted
\nthat the 2004 general election will produce a fragile political
\nsystem and thus also a weak government.<\/p>",
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