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.