New parties 'face tough election in 2004'

New parties 'face tough election in 2004'

Berni K. Moestafa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

With new political parties sprouting fast, analysts said their
prospects at the 2004 general election were dim as most of them
lacked a clear support base at the grassroots level.

But the new parties stood a chance among the young and the
more politically aware, they added.

"The problem of new parties is that of struggling to be
recognized," said political analyst Fachry Ali on Monday.

He said most of the newer parties did not come from, or were
not affiliated to, mass organizations, as did the newcomers at
the 1999 general election.

Fachry was referring to parties such as the National Awakening
Party (PKB) and the National Mandate Party (PAN), which have the
support of the country's two largest Muslim organizations, with a
combined membership of some 70 million backing them.

A total of 48 political parties took part in the 1999
election, in a surge of political expression following the end of
Soeharto's 32-year authoritarian regime.

Under the New Order administration, political parties were
restricted to three, with Golkar winning the election every time.

Currently, some 180 new parties have registered at the
Ministry of Justice and Human Rights to participate in the 2004
general election.

But analysts said a strict elections bill, being discussed by
legislators at the House of Representatives (DPR), would likely
reduce that number significantly.

Two noted political observers, Andi Mallarangeng and Ryaas
Rasyid, nonetheless added flavor to the choice of parties with
their Unity, Democracy and Nationhood Party (PPDK), which they
unveiled last Sunday.

Fachry said that having prominent observers in a party might
be appealing to intellectuals but not enough to reach out to
ordinary people. "In an election, one person equals one vote. It
doesn't matter whether that voter is a professor or a poor
farmer."

He said most Indonesian voters sought representation in
parties with ties to their traditions or beliefs.

For example, he said, PAN had a very modern political platform
for an Indonesian party when it was launched in 1998.

But only through its affiliation to the country's second-
largest Muslim organization, the Muhammadiyah, was it able to
snatch a sizable voting base in 1999, Fachry said.

Now PAN is seen as compromising its modern platform to forge
ties with Islamic-leaning parties in what would have been an
unlikely coalition in 1998.

On PPDK, Fachry said the party offered an interesting sales
pitch, in which it focused on gender issues affecting women.

Although women were a largely neglected voter segment, he
said, they also made up most of Indonesia's uneducated voters,
making PPDK's intellectual appeal unsuitable.

Last week, singer and song composer Eros Djarot announced his
Bung Karno Nationalist Party, referring to founding president
Sukarno. Prominent economist Sjahrir is due to announce his New
Indonesia Party (PIB) over the next few months.

Ramlan Surbakti of the General Elections Commission said that
new parties would have a hard time winning over traditional
voters.

These parties, he said, stood a better chance with floating
voters who changed their choice from one election to another,
depending on the issues parties campaigned for.

"They (the parties) can find support also with voters who have
become disappointed with their old choices," Ramlan said.

Young voters, who would be eligible to vote for the first time
in 2004, also represented a large cache of potential support,
according to him.