Too many political parties

Too many political parties

From Kompas

On a recent television program, Burhanuddin N, chairman of the alumni group of the National Resilience Institute (Lemhanas), said the presence of some 240 political parties in Indonesia was politically and economically disadvantageous.

The leaders of the political parties are usually concerned with their parties' interests, at the expense of the nation's interests. The presence of so many political parties also requires huge amounts of money.

In the United States and other democratic countries, there are only two parties. Perhaps five would be enough for our country, and these parties may be based on nationalism or religion.

The current House of Representatives is quite troublesome as some 200 of its members have something to do with the prosecutor's office. The House is expected to exercise control over the government but it is in fact just a lair of criminals. The irony is that almost everyone -- regardless of their profession -- may sit in the House.

Because the legislators in the House are not qualified, morally corrupt and narrow-minded in their nationalism, this country has become quite a mess.

Let's learn from history. Corruptors and repeat offenders from Britain used to be exiled to Australia. After several generations, Australia developed into a modern state with only a few political parties. Today it is a country with a very low corruption rate.

By contrast, there were a lot of political parties in Indonesia's first general election (1955) and its last (1999). The presence of a great number of political parties adversely affects not only the development of democracy in Indonesia but also the country's statehood.

SYARIFUDDIN

Riau