The poor need food, politicians parties

The poor need food, politicians parties

On Nov. 3, 1945, a few months after the chains of colonial
rule were broken, vice president Mohammad Hatta issued a decree,
Maklumat X/1945, that encouraged citizens to set up parties in
the run-up to the country's first general election, which was
held in 1955. The fervor that followed resulted in 36 parties
contesting that election. History has come round full circle as
we now have 56 parties. The Jakarta Post looks at this phenomena,
which has confused the many people who think new parties should
not be the main priority in this time of crisis.

JAKARTA (JP): The result of a recent poll conducted by the
University of Indonesia makes it vividly clear what people
require. People urgently need essential commodities, not new
political parties.

The 4,980 respondents in 10 major cities selected by the
university's Institute for Business Ethics Studies and
Development say they want to see food prices go down, not new
parties mushroom.

Yet, intoxicated by the unprecedented freedom of expression
and assembly that president Soeharto's downfall brought about,
politicians can't stop founding parties.

As of yesterday, at least 56 new political parties have come
into being. All promise democracy while their potential voters
are struggling to survive the economic calamity which has shown
no signs of abating.

Their number is expected to rise because starting a political
party has turned out to be easy. All one needs to do is call a
media conference and have the party's name listed at the Ministry
of Home Affairs.

Meanwhile, the government is preparing a bill stating
conditions that a political party should meet to qualify for
participation in the general election scheduled for May next
year. Until then, it will neither recognize nor ban any party.

"Everyone is free to start a party as long as they make (the
state ideology) Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution their
principle," President BJ Habibie recently said. "Besides that, a
party ought to be open to anyone regardless of their racial,
religious or social backgrounds."

Even if Habibie had not made the encouraging statement, there
would be no force effective enough to suppress people's desire to
set up parties even though the old unpopular law recognizing only
three parties -- the United Development Party (PPP), Golkar and
the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) -- is still in force.

Some new parties are, in fact, not really new.

For instance, the Indonesian National Party (PNI), Murba Party
and Indonesian Syarikat Islam Party (PSII) are old parties
revived with a "spirit of reform".

PNI and Murba together with other nationalist and Christian
parties were fused into PDI, and PSII along with other Islamic
parties into PPP in 1973 when president Soeharto pared down a
dozen parties into three in a move to tighten his grip on the
political system.

Of the 56 new parties, only a few are generally considered
"serious" with strong potential grassroots support. The People's
Mandate Party (PAB) founded by Amien Rais and the People's
Awakening Party (PKB) by Abdurrahman Wahid are considered the
most serious.

Amien is the highly influential reformist chief of the 28-
million-strong Muhammadiyah while charismatic Abdurrahman heads
the 30-million-member Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) which has its
strongest basis in traditionalist rural Moslem communities.

Both Amien's and Abdurrahman's parties have pledged to become
"open" parties and have received support from non-Moslem and
nationalist figures alike.

The Indonesian Prosperous Labor Union Party founded by
independent labor leader Muchtar Pakpahan, Indonesian Democratic
Union Party (PUDI) by Soeharto's foe Sri Bintang Pamungkas and
Moon and Star Party by Moslem propagators are also believed to
have potentially strong support.

The government's advice that a new party should not be
discriminatory in nature has not been entirely heeded.

Chinese-Indonesian politicians who are dismayed by
discrimination against the ethnic Chinese have come up with the
Chinese-Indonesian Reform Party. Led by Lius Sangkaharisma, its
leaders have brushed aside fears that the party, which aims at
seeking an end to racial discrimination, would only aggravate
anti-Chinese sentiment.

The Indonesian Women's Party, Indonesian Muslimin Party,
Indonesian Islamic Party and Indonesian Christian Party are other
instances of discriminatory parties that may have to choose
another name or merge with other parties when the law is passed.

Some politicians buoyed by Soeharto's downfall have given
their parties names that are close to frivolousness, although
they may not mean to joke. Welcome these: Neighborhood Party
(Partai RT & RW) and the Poor People's Party. In Medan, bus
drivers overjoyed with Soeharto's downfall set up the Indonesian
Drivers Party.

A group of politicians disappointed by the government's
eagerness to exploit eastern provinces' natural wealth but
reluctance to develop the area founded the Eastern Indonesia
Party on June 6.

"We don't want to campaign for separatism but to seek
treatment for the eastern provinces equal to that of other
provinces," the party's chief Bert A. Supit says.

But for some politicians, the name does matter. Just a day
after veteran nationalist leader Mrs. Soepeni introduced her PNI,
unknown Bachtiar Oseha Chalik declared the establishment of his
own party bearing the same name.

PNI was created by independence proclaimer Sukarno, who became
Indonesia's first president. Both Soepeni and Bachtiar claim
their party is Sukarno's true inheritance.

Now, Indonesia also has two republican parties, the Republic
Party and Indonesian Republic Party, founded by obscure
politicians H.A. Yani Wahid and Mangatas respectively.

The wind of change has prompted Moslem leaders, who often
accused the Soeharto government of marginalizing the Moslem
majority, to establish their own parties, which they like to
describe as "nationalistic, open parties with an Islamic spirit".

There have been at least 12 such parties established recently.
Although most of them do not explicitly use such terms like
Moslem or Islam, their executives are all Moslems and their
agenda largely Moslem-oriented.

The People's Awakening Party, Moon and Star Party, People's
Mandate Party, National Solidarity Union Party, Masyumi, the
Indonesian Moslem Party, Nahdlatul Ulama Youth Party and PSII are
to mention but a few.

Moon and Star Party chairman Yusril Ihza Mahendra has denied
allegations that his party will be waging a campaign to turn
Indonesia into an Islamic state.

He says the party only wants to run a government which applies
Islamic values.

Observers say the many Moslem parties should be seen as a sign
that Islamic fundamentalism is not a threat to Indonesia because
the believers are segmented into different political loyalties.

It is also generally believed that the nationalists' stake is
necessary to counterbalance the growing popularity of Megawati
Soekarnoputri, a popular leader of the nationalist, secular
Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), which has been riddled with
internal bickering.

The proliferation of political parties has raised concerns
over the possibility of bitter rivalry among the various groups
in society, as happened in the 1955 general election.

"It is possible that the same old sad story will be repeated,"
political observer Indria Samego told journalists recently.

But more liberal people say that the great number is nothing
to worry about because it will naturally become proportional when
the parties fight for seats in the House of Representatives next
year.

And the new party list is expected to go on. (pan)