Multiparty system has not improved democracy

Multiparty system has not improved democracy

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The multiparty political system has not significantly contributed
to regional autonomy and politicians continue to ignore their
constituents demands and aspirations, a study says.

The research, conducted recently by a group of political
scientists in cooperation with the Netherlands Institute for
Multiparty Democracy (IMD), revealed that although the presence
of many parties in the last two elections had bought greater
choice to the people, the performance of regional legislatures
(DPRDs) resulting from the elections were no better than those of
bodies during the New Order.

"As products of a democratic election, the DPRDs for the 1999-
2004 period polls are a little bit better than the current
regional legislatures since they managed to prove they no longer
served as a rubber-stamp for the government's policies.

"The two, however, are alike in nature as their members sought
only power and benefited from their institution as a stepping
stone to positions in government," Syamsuddin Haris, coordinator
of the researchers, said while presenting the results of the
study here on Wednesday.

There were 48 political parties contesting the 1999 election,
and 24 parties competing in the 2004 polls.

Syamsuddin said all political parties, except the Prosperous
Peace Party (PKS), were facing a crisis of legitimacy since they
failed to provide an adequate space for the public to control
their internal matters.

"This means that there is no mechanism for the public to
control the political and moral behavior of councillors and the
performance of political parties in the DPRDs.

"Parties' branches at the provincial and regental levels
failed to develop since most functionaries have moved to local
legislatures," he said.

Umar Anggara Jenie, chief of LIPI, said the internal conflict
plaguing several parties, including the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI-P), National Awakening Party (PKB) and the
Reformed Star Party (PBR), reflected the unaccountability of
political parties and the poor condition of democracy in regions.

"Party elites have been involved in internal conflicts in
their attempt to seek power rather than to implement party
programs and answer to the people's aspirations," he said.

Ichlasul Amal, the former rector of Gadjah Mada University in
Yogyakarta, questioned the parties' contribution to the
democratization.

"It is not clear whether provincial, regental and municipal
legislatures represent parties, the people, or conflicting
interests in society," he said. Most parties were less-than
transparent and did little to assess their accountability during
congresses, he said.

J. Kristiadi, a political scientist of the Centre for
Strategic International Studies (CSIS), said the poor performance
of most political parties was linked to the absence of a long-
term political education programs.

"We do not have strong political parties because all existing
parties are relatively new and somewhat pragmatic and are only
generally active a few months before and after general
elections," said Kristiadi who likened parties as "monsters
hunting for power."

He said ideal parties should not only adopt a modern ideology
and policies, but should also operate rigid recruitment, career
planning and education schemes for their members.

The research team comprised Arbi Sanit of the University of
Indonesia, along with Lili Romli, Moch Nurhasim, Sri Nuryanti,
Sri Yanuarti and Tri Ratnawati, all from the Indonesian Institute
of Sciences (LIPI).

They conducted the one-year study in 15 regencies and
mayoralties in the provinces of North Sumatra, West Sumatra,
Banten, East Java, South Sulawesi and East Nusa Tenggara.

The research included field studies, and interviews of
councillors, legislature speakers, regional government heads,
journalists and non-governmental organization activists.