Non-partisan figures have big election chance: Siswono
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Non-partisan figures contesting in next year's presidential election stand a bigger chance of winning because the majority of voters have no connection with political parties, a former minister says.
Siswono Yudohusodo, a former minister for transmigration, told a discussion here on Friday that only 20 percent of some 145 million voters in next year's elections are members of political parties.
"The remaining 80 percent are not members of any political party. This means non-partisan candidates will have a big chance to win the presidency," said Siswono, who is also chairman of the Indonesian Farmers Association (HKTI).
Siswono is one of several non-party figures vying for the presidential post, having been nominated by at least seven small parties, including the Love the Nation Peace Crusade Party (PDKB) and the Islamic Sharia Party (PSI).
Along with Siswono, noted Muslim scholar Nurcholish Madjid and Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono are tipped to run in next year's election, when the country holds its first ever direct presidential election.
Independent candidates are not allowed to run in the elections but may be nominated by a political party or a coalition of political parties.
The two-phase presidential elections are expected to take place in July and September respectively.
Siswono said non-party candidates would have the chance to lure the support from all quarters in society, including political parties.
Meanwhile, Ahmad Watik Pratiknya from The Habibie Center (THC) said "the nation's best son" was not always a member of a political party, therefore independent figures must be given an equal chance to contest the presidential elections.
He was referring to the practice in the United States where non-party figures may nominate themselves by producing support from a number of people.
He added that the most important thing was to show the public that non-partisan figures also have the competence to lead the nation.
Siswono stressed that requirements to become president are different from those required to become chairperson of a political party.
Legislator Ferry Mursyidan Baldan, who deliberated the presidential election law, said the law provided the chance for non-party figures to contest the elections if they were nominated by a political party or coalition of parties.
Ferry of Golkar refuted the widely held perception that only a member of a political party could be nominated as a presidential candidate, saying that each political party was given a chance to nominate their candidate.
Two parties have openly nominated their chairpersons to be their presidential candidates -- the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) with its chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri, and the National Mandate Party (PAN) with it chairman Amien Rais.
Golkar is still in the process of selecting its presidential candidate.