Parties and people's aspiration: Where do we draw the line?

Parties and people's aspiration: Where do we draw the line?

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

A total of 24 political parties have been declared eligible to
contest the 2004 elections, when the country will hold its first
ever direct presidential election since declaring independence in
August 1945.

If political parties are manifestations of the people's
aspirations, then many people will not be represented in the
upcoming elections as the number of parties qualified to contest
them is only half of the number that participated in the 1999
election, dubbed the freest and most peaceful election since
independence.

More than that, the number of parties qualified to contest the
upcoming elections accounts for roughly one-tenth of the 237
parties registered with the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.
Only 44 of those parties, however, passed the rigorous screening
by the ministry and were thus declared legitimate political
parties.

Does this mean that only one-tenth of the country's around 140
million eligible voters will cast their votes when Indonesia
holds its legislative election in April 2004 and direct
presidential elections in July 2004?

Nobody knows for sure yet. But if the 1999 election offers any
clue to next year's elections, then one should have no reason to
worry. In the first election after the former dictator Soeharto's
downfall in May 1998, only 48 of the over 120 parties registered
with the KPU contested the election. Come election day, almost 95
percent of the some 118 million eligible voters came out in
throngs to exercise their voting rights.

Does this mean that a country as big and diverse as Indonesia
needs 48 political parties? Well, in the 1999 election, only 10
of the 48 political parties garnered enough votes to get
representatives into the House of Representatives. And out of
this 10, only six passed the 2 percent electoral threshold: the
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), the
Golkar Party, the United Development Party (PPP), the National
Awakening Party (PKB), the National Mandate Party (PAN), and the
Crescent Star Party (PBB). These six parties automatically
qualified to contest next year's elections.

However, it is still too early to say that Indonesia, the
world's biggest archipelagic country with a population of around
215 million, needs only six political parties. The reason is that
most political parties rely heavily on the charisma of their
leaders rather than political platforms.

The PDI Perjuangan counted on Megawati Soekarnoputri, a
daughter of founding president Sukarno. Golkar, which was used by
former dictator Soeharto as his political vehicle for more than
three decades, relied more on its extensive network rather than
its programs. The PKB banked on former Nahdlatul Ulama (NU)
chairman Abdurrahman Wahid and the NU's network rather than its
political agenda, while PAN, PPP and PBB built on the reputations
on their leaders, Amien Rais, Hamzah Haz, and Yusril Ihza
Mahendra respectively, to garner votes.

The KPU deputy chairman, Ramlan Surbakti, once said that the
existence of so many new parties in the county reflected the fact
that the existing parties, particularly those with seats in the
House, do not have clear political platforms.

Besides, he said, the emergence of new political parties was
also caused by splits in the party executive boards as a result
of jostling for power within the parties, something that
indicated the absence of open, transparent and competitive
mechanisms. Such splits were not caused by ideological
differences.

With the elections fast approaching, these political parties
are likely to employ similar tactics in 2004 to those they used
in the 1999 election. But as most, if not all, of the leaders of
these political parties have performed very poorly over the past
few years, and thus have nothing to sell in the upcoming
elections, some political parties have started recruiting
celebrities and former military and police officers as their
legislative candidates. This highlights, once again, the fact
that most political parties are built on personalities rather
than political agendas.

Indeed, the requirements for setting up a party are relatively
easy in Indonesia. According to Law No. 31/2002 on political
parties, a party can be established by at least 50 Indonesian
citizens of not less than 21 years of age.

A party is also required to have executive boards in at least
50 percent of the country's 32 provinces, or in 16 provinces, and
in 50 percent of the total number of regencies and/or
municipalities in the 16 provinces, as well as 25 percent of the
total subdistricts in the respective regencies and/or
municipalities.

And, in order to contest a general election, a party is
required to have offices and executive boards in two-thirds, or
21, of the country's 32 provinces, and 50 percent of the total
number of regencies and/or municipalities in those provinces, and
25 percent of the total subdistricts in the respective regencies
and/or municipalities.

Meanwhile, Soegeng Sarjadi from the Center for Political
Studies said that the presence of so many political parties
indicated a high level of political awareness on the part of
Indonesian people.

The emergence of these new political parties could produce new
leaders capable of bringing about real reform in the country.

However, many still believe that the arrival of the new
parties will do nothing to bring about meaningful change in the
country.

Indonesia is still ranked among the most corrupt countries in
the world, although the reform movement gave a mandate to combat
corruption to the country's new leaders who took over after the
fall of the Soeharto regime in 1998.

Note:

graphics: list of 24 parties contesting in 2004 parties

According to the writer, the requirements for setting up a party
in Indonesia are relatively easy. This is not the case. The
requirement to have party organizations in so many provinces and
regencies is virtually impossible to comply with for new parties,
and will not be regarded as "relatively easy" by people who are
used to democracy. This requirement preserves the status quo and
is designed to prevent people in "troublesome" provinces from
having a voice -- in other words, it is completely undemocratic,
guarantees Jakarta's continuing dominance, and makes a mockery of
the entire democratic process! Perhaps you should consider taking
out the "relatively easy" bit of this sentence?