'Natural selection' will sort out new parties: Syarwan
BANDUNG (JP): Minister of Home Affairs Syarwan Hamid, facing the prospect of new political parties cropping up on a daily basis, has said there should no restriction on the number of parties in existence.
Syarwan instead believes the process of "natural selection" will eventually sort out the political organizations which endure.
"The small parties which aren't appealing will eventually fade by themselves," he said after addressing a course on home government here in the West Java provincial capital yesterday.
He maintained that the fundamental requirement was that the parties should acknowledge the state ideology Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution as their political basis, and that they do not exploit issues involving SARA, an Indonesian acronym for tribal affiliation, religion, race and societal groups.
Since the early 1970s, the government has only recognized the existence of Golkar, the United Development Party (PPP) and the Indonesian Democratic Party as electoral contestants.
The recent fall of Soeharto and current surge in the reform campaign have given fresh impetus for greater freedom in expressing political aspirations, particularly regarding political parties.
This week alone, the establishment of six political parties was declared.
Women
Yesterday, there were more declarations from various organizations establishing their own independent parties.
Syarikat Islam announced it would again go its own way in the political arena when its chairman Taufiq R. Tjokroaminoto said it was readopting its old name of Indonesian Syarikat Islam Party (PSII) and forming its own political party.
The move effectively means that Syarikat Islam is breaking ranks from PPP, which it helped establish in 1973.
A statement, signed by Taufiq and Syarikat Islam council chairman Mulyana Muslim, said the new party would be ready to contest the general elections and that a committee had been formed to consolidate the PSII membership.
Syarikat Islam was originally founded as a social-religious organization in 1912. In 1927, it formally branched out into political affairs and changed its name to the Syarikat Islam Party.
Two years later, it changed its name again, to the Indonesian Syarikat Islam Party, to stress its allegiance to the nationalist cause
In 1973 it merged with other Islamic-affiliated parties to form PPP.
"Once the new electoral laws are passed we will hold our first congress," Taufiq told journalists.
He boasted Syarikat Islam had a membership of 25 million.
Feminists also quickly pounced on the opportunity to make their political aspirations felt when philosophy professor Toeti Herati Noerhadi and novelist La Rose founded the Indonesian Women's Party.
A statement issued to mark the formation of the new party defined its aim as "to empower women in the political field, because in this field women have not been accorded their rightful place".
While it is apparent the party still lacks a defined nationwide network, it quickly circulated a flier asking both men and women whether they were interested in becoming members or even executive members. (mds)