PAN supporters threaten to switch allegiance
Ruslan Sangadji and Irvan NR, The Jakarta Post, Palu, Central Sulawesi
Local members of the National Mandate Party (PAN) here objected on Saturday to the central board's selection of politicians to top the party's list of legislative candidates representing Central Sulawesi, as the candidates are not native to the province.
Deputy chairman of PAN's Central Sulawesi chapter Baso Rustham Effendi told a media conference the party's local supporters would move to rival parties if Jakarta refused to revise the list.
"The central board's refusal to make changes in the roster will result in an exodus of PAN supporters here and will cost the party a huge loss of support for its presidential candidate Amien Rais," Effendi, better known as Abang, said.
PAN's central board of executives has submitted its list of House of Representatives candidates to the General Elections Commission (KPU), which saw Nurhadi Musawir head the list in Central Sulawesi, ahead of local candidates Nadjamudin Ramli and Tjatjo Thaha who are second and third respectively.
Nurhadi is a native of Yogyakarta.
The KPU has given only until Jan. 19 for the parties to make any changes to their list of candidates.
The upcoming general election will adopt a new system in which a voter will be asked to punch a party's logo and a candidate's name, but a ballot paper will be considered valid even if only the party's symbol is punched. As a result of the ruling, candidates placed at the top of the list stand a greater chance of winning legislative seats than those listed below.
Despite claims from political parties that selection of legislative candidates started from the local party branches, it was the central boards that had the final say.
PAN did not win any seat in the House from Central Sulawesi and managed only to secure one seat in the provincial legislature in the 1999 general election.
Separately, dozens of students grouped under the Alliance of Banggai-Saluan Youths and Students (Babasal) rallied at the Provincial Elections Commission (KPUD) in Palu to reject the nomination of outsiders by some political parties as legislative candidates representing Banggai-Bangkep regency.
"They (outsiders) do not know the character of the people they will represent and have not proven their contribution to development in our regency. How can they channel our aspirations?" the group's chairman Irfan Bungaadjim said.
He said there were many native candidates who were more competent than the outsiders.
"We need local figures, not strangers," he told KPUD officials.
Central Sulawesi KPUD chairman Zainuddin Bolong asserted that the unitary state of Indonesia did not recognize the dichotomy between native and non-native figures.
"The demand indicates that nationalism has faded among the younger generation while the nation is facing the threat of disintegration," Zainuddin said.
The students dispersed peacefully after the dialog with KPUD officials.