PPIB brings fresh prospects to elections
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
As a newcomer on the political scene, the New Indonesia Alliance Party (PPIB) has set out to garner the 3 percent electoral threshold necessary to proceed to the presidential election.
While this may be a prudent first step to establishing its presence, it does not mean that they have no further ambitions nor the courage to drive them.
The party believes it has what it takes to be a genuine contender in the presidential election against other parties -- even more established ones.
As PPIB chairman Sjahrir, a prominent economist and staunch critic of the government, said: "It's important for a party to get beyond that first hurdle, because what may happen in the next stage will be hard to predict.
"That's why our target in the April election is to secure the electoral threshold ... then we'll see in the next stage, where I believe the real battle lies."
Sjahrir spoke on Friday, when he led a small delegation of party representatives on a brief visit to The Jakarta Post.
The general elections will be held on April 5, and 145 million voters will determine the fate of 7,786 legislative hopefuls from 24 political parties.
Parties that win at least 3 percent of total votes will be eligible to nominate candidates for the presidential election in July.
A second round will be held in September if there is no majority winner in the July polls.
Sjahrir said the PPIB had been receiving increasing support and recorded a rise in popularity throughout the country, indicating that it could become a surprising, confident force.
The attractiveness of the PPIB platform is not only its mission to build a country that is free of corruption, injustice and unemployment -- which have prevailed until and under the current government -- but also its leading figures, who are mostly new faces. It is these new politicians who provide the party with something of an edge, especially for those who are fed up with how things have been run.
Another innovative element is its program to provide a balanced structure for regional budgets, which are currently lopsided between administrative and public expenditures.
"In some regions, the difference between the costs is so large that the ratio stands at 87:13, which is unhealthy. How can expenditures for government officials and institutes be so much higher than those for development, which will benefit a lot of people," said Erna Zetha Rusman, a top legislative candidate.
"Because of this, budgets for education, health, sanitation and others that are important in improving people's quality of life are minuscule."
The PPIB was established with an aim to enter the decision- making circle to make inroads to a new and better Indonesia. It is led by Sjahrir and other respected professionals such as academics, economists and journalists.
In the legislative election, the PPIB expects to secure significant votes from North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Bali, Riau, Lampung, Central Sulawesi, Maluku, Banten and South Sulawesi.