Conflicts plague big parties

Muhaimin Syamsuddin, Faculty of Letters Petra Christian University, Surabaya

The spread of internal conflicts among almost all of the big political parties in Indonesia is like an epidemic.

In the National Mandate Party (PAN) in January 2001, 16 of its executives led by Faisal Basri and Bara Hasibuan declared that they had resigned from the party.

The Crescent Star Party (PBB) saw disputes between two founders: Chairman Yusril Ihza Mahendra and Hartono Mardjono, now the chairman of the Indonesian Islamic Party (PII), a new party declared on March 15.

The United Development Party (PPP) which was led by Vice President Hamzah Haz now has a splinter party, the United Development Party of Reform (PPP-Reformasi) declared by preacher Zainuddin MZ.

Similarly, the National Awakening Party (PKB) now has two rival chairmen each claiming legitimacy -- Matori Abdul Jalil and Alwi Shihab.

These internal conflicts are bound to influence public policy options, the recruiting and training of leaders for public offices, and political education.

One factor causing such conflicts is of course the clash of interests among party executives. For instance, the PPP split followed an unsettled dispute over the party executive's decision to postpone the party's congress from 2003 to 2004. The PPP delayed the congress at the request of party chairman, Hamzah Haz, to enable himself to run for the presidency in the next election.

Zainuddin MZ said that postponing the party's congress from 2003 to 2004 was illegal and against the party's internal regulations. The postponement, he added, aimed to block other party's members from contesting the next presidential elections.

Another significant factor that stimulates internal conflicts in political parties is the absence of good party management. Conflict handling involves elements from outside the party, and unnecessary overexposure in the media.

In the conflict of the PKB, after the impeachment of president Abdurrahman Wahid during the people's consultative assembly special session (SI-MPR) in 2001, the Kyai Khos played an important role. These are a number of Kyai, the NU's religious leaders or ulema, who are believed to have outstanding abilities, a good knowledge of Islam, and are not PKB's executives.

Their involvement in handling PKB's internal conflicts precisely sharpens the conflicts because they take sides. It is commonly believed that Kyai Khos actually stand for Gus Dur to win Alwi Shihab as the chairman. At last, they couldn't resolve the conflicts peacefully.

Besides, Matori Abdul Jalil and Alwi Shihab preferred exposing their conflicts in the mass media rather than meeting and discussing the issues together to find the best solution. Overexposure of the conflicts in the media makes the conflicts more complicated. It does not stimulate a better understanding but rather fosters prejudice to each other.

Other than a clash of interests among the party executives and the absence of good party management, the political system which centers upon the reliance on top figures is also liable to cause internal conflicts in political parties. It means that internal conflicts in political parties are rooted in the tremendous power of the top figures.

Top figures, in this case, might be either the founders of the party or the chairman. In other words, it can be said that political parties in Indonesia are very personal and under programmed. In this kind of political party system, opposing the will of top figures means opposing the party itself.

This unfair political system eventually creates binary opposition camps which often lead to a dispute, a quarrel, or even a fight. Such a phenomenon can be found in the dispute and conflict between Faisal Basri, a representative of the young people's camp, versus Amien Rais as the chairman of National Mandate Party (PAN); between Zainuddin MZ, a potential votes getter, against Hamzah Haz as the chairman of United Development Party (PPP); as well as between Matori Abdul Jalil as the chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB) versus Abdurrahman Wahid as the PKB's founder.

In conclusion, the clash of interests among the party executives, the absence of good party management, and the political system which centers upon the reliance on top figures undoubtedly cause internal conflicts in political parties.

Therefore, trying to resolve the internal conflicts away by resigning from the party or establishing a new splinter party will not work. The parties have to be made better through concrete work in party development, such as doing fit and proper tests in appointing the party chairman and the party's central board (DPP), as well as setting a political system run by parties based on democracy rather than on the reliance of top figures. If these are implemented, better parties will emerge in the future, so that we could move forward in the development of Indonesia's democracy.