'Ethnic Chinese parties unlikely to win in 2004'

'Ethnic Chinese parties unlikely to win in 2004'

A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Political parties affiliated to the ethnic Chinese community
in the country will not be able to gain major political support
in the 2004 general election as happened in the past, says a
prominent expert.

The grim prediction was attributed to the fact that in the
1999 election, such parties were unable to grow and did not gain
sufficient votes to win any seats in the House of
Representatives, provincial and regency legislatures, said Leo
Suryadinata.

"The same experience will likely repeat in the next
elections," he told reporters after a discussion on ethnic
Chinese in Indonesia and the launching of his book Negara dan
Etnis Tionghoa: Kasus Indonesia (The State and Ethnic Chinese:
Indonesia's case) at J.W. Marriott hotel here.

The function itself was jointly coordinated by private think
tank Sugeng Sarjadi Syndicated and the Chinese-Indonesian
Association (INTI).

There are at least two Chinese-based political parties -- the
Indonesia Bhinneka Party (PBI) and the Tionghoa Reform Party
(Parti).

The PBI could steal one seat in West Kalimantan provincial
legislature.

Suryadinata added that another factor impeding Chinese-based
political parties in gaining enough votes in the next election
was the growing belief, even within the Chinese community itself,
that the parties would not gain enough votes in the election,
which then could assure that their constituents' interests were
given attention.

"Chinese-Indonesian voters will prefer to cast their votes for
major nationalist parties that have already established a
prominent position in the national political landscape, such as
the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), to
fight for their political aspirations," said Suryadinata, also a
lecturer at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

There are currently six million Chinese-Indonesians, out of a
total population of 215 million Indonesians.

Most Chinese-Indonesians are not interested in politics since
their focus has always been on business, one reason why they have
dominated the Indonesian economy, especially the retail sector.

Political apathy, together with the community's small size,
has left Chinese-Indonesians on the periphery of Indonesian
politics.

Separately, Syamsuddin Harris, a political expert of the
Indonesian Institute of Sciences, shared Suryadinata's views.

He said that it would be difficult for such parties to gain
political support from people of other ethnic groups.

"Even, Islamic parties themselves, representing the majority
of the people, have been unable to win a single majority in the
previous elections," Syamsuddin told The Jakarta Post.

The Muslim people have been divided into numerous Islamic and
nationalist parties.

Besides, the absence of political support from other ethnic
groups, Syamsuddin said, that any parties affiliated to Chinese-
Indonesians would face difficulties in coming to power in the
future.

"The Chinese-Indonesians may not vote for PBI or Parti, for
fear that they and the parties will be labeled as exclusive by
the majority. Therefore, it would be more beneficial for them to
vote for nationalist parties," said Syamsuddin.