Frans Surdiasis, Research and Development Unit, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Three daughters of the country's founding father, Sukarno, have now entered the political arena. The victory of Megawati Soekarnoputri and her party in the 1999 elections, and subsequent criticism of her presidency, has inspired her sisters to seek a voice in politics. Megawati's youngest sister, Diah Mutiara Sukmawati Soekarnoputri, now leads the Marhaenisme Indonesian National Party (PNI Marhaenisme).

The party's name is an acknowledgement of its links with the first president, whose charisma has not yet been matched. Its logo of the bull also evokes memories of the original PNI co- founded by Sukarno in 1927. Other parties, including those of the sisters, claim to propagate the true marhaenism, which was based on defending the poor and self reliance for the country, as introduced by Sukarno.

Sukmawati -- who like her popular brother Guruh Soekarnoputra is better known for her dancing skills -- began her political career in 1999 when she joined the central board of the revived PNI. The party was co-founded by Supeni, a prominent public figure and a former ambassador to Indonesia.

Sukmawati insisted that the family agreement made in 1978, when Sukarno's children agreed not to enter politics, no longer applied. Indeed, her sisters also changed their minds.

In the 1999 elections, Sukmawati, a legislative candidate for Surabaya municipality, East Java, failed to obtain a seat. After the PNI failed to pass the electoral threshold, PNI Marhaenisme was set up and declared to be a revival of the first PNI established in 1927.

Although her elder sisters are more popular, Sukmawati has long been passionate about her father's teachings. She was involved in the People's Marhaen Movement (Gerakan Rakyat Marhaen), an organization which aimed to popularize Sukarno's teachings, and became its chairperson from 1991 to 1998.

In this capacity, she was once examined as a witness by the Attorney General's Office in the case of Budiman Sudjatmiko, the former leader of the Democratic People's Party (PRD) who was accused of leaning toward Marxism.

Declared in May 2002, the party's target for 2004 is not yet clear. Marhaenisme itself has become a "vote getter" for parties as it has never had the chance to become an ideology in itself. This is in part due to the official sanction of Pancasila as the state's ideology under the rule of Soeharto, Sukarno's successor. (Pancasila's conception is also attributed to Sukarno, but Soeharto effectively banned any other interpretation than that propagated by the New Order.)

Roeslan Abdulgani, a former ideologue of Sukarno and his successor Soeharto, once said that none of Sukarno's children showed a "true" understanding of his teachings. In 1999, none of the parties using the old name of PNI and marhaenisme gained significant votes.

Sukmawati's party relies on its populist agenda of championing the little people, the marhaen. But it needs to strive much harder, despite dissatisfaction with Megawati and her party among the underprivileged.

Even so, Sukmawati may not appeal to "Sukarno loyalists" looking for an alternative. She has a much lower profile than those of her sister Rahmawati, and former Megawati-loyalist, Eros Djarot, who leads another party based on Sukarno's teachings.

PNI Marhaenisme would likely seek votes in the traditional strongholds of the PNI, including East Java, Central Java, Bali and some provinces of Sumatra, such as Bengkulu and Lampung. PNI Marhaenisme also claims that is enjoys wide support in Papua. In 1999 the leader of the PNI party, Supeni, secured 377,137 votes nationwide. In Central Java Province, PNI took eighth place. In Bali province it took sixth place.

Performing better in Bali than in other regions, the party hopes that Sukmawati will secure it more votes in 2004. Sukarno's mother was from Bali and parties using symbols associated with Sukarno are popular there.

In East Java, the party is ready to compete for seats by nominating Usep Ranawijaya, who was once a popular figure among nationalists.

However, to target young voters, Sukmawati may have to work on updating her campaign material. The party has received one lucky sign, at the drawing of the ballot numbers arranged by the General Election's Commission, Sukmawati joyfully acquired number one.