Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Political analysts are throwing their weight behind calls to create regional political parties in the country, arguing that such parties do not have to be synonymous with separatist movements, as some politicians fear.
Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) analyst Syamsuddin Harris said there was nothing to fear about local parties as long as they were constitutionally forbidden from campaigning for independence.
"As we are now holding direct regional elections, local parties should be allowed to contest them. It is the local people who know who and what is best for their regions," he said on Tuesday.
Several politicians have resisted the idea of setting up local political parties, a concept which surfaced following the recent peace talks between the government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
GAM has demanded it be allowed to establish its own political party in Aceh as part of a peace deal it is scheduled to sign with the Indonesian government on Aug. 15 in Helsinki.
The proposal, analysts said, was impossible under the current law, which states that only national parties that have representatives in at least half of the country's provinces are able to field candidates for regional elections.
"Having a local party has nothing to do with separatism. The fight for independence started long before the idea of local parties came up. It was injustice and abuses of power at the local level by (officials representing) the central government that sparked the independence struggle," Syamsuddin said.
With regional parties, people would be more fairly represented, he said. Many people had become disillusioned with the national parties, whose elected officials were corrupt and ineffective.
Regional autonomy did not make sense if there was not a corresponding devolution in power in the political scene, Syamsuddin said.
The idea of better representing the regions saw the creation of the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) last year. However, the DPD had limited authority and could only make non-binding recommendations on a narrow range of issues.
Most large democratic countries, meanwhile, allowed local parties to exist and many had implemented federal systems.
J. Kristiadi from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said any decision to allow local parties was now in the hands of the House of Representatives.
"There's no proof (internationally) that having local parties results in secessions. In fact, in the long term, local parties could encourage the ruling national parties to compete in providing welfare to the people. Why would local people want independence if the ruling government could give them what they needed?" Kristiadi said.
"With regional elections, it is natural that certain parties will emerge as political forces at the local level. They will end up giving minorities in remote areas a voice and will work to protect their rights."