Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – Major parties are set to spend huge amounts of money on ads ahead of the upcoming elections, but they remain divided over how much this will help them to win votes.

For the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), media advertising plays a small role in boosting a party's image. To increase support for a political group, much depends on what it has done for the public in real life, the Islamic party added.

"Political advertising could make people more familiar with our party, but to be able to win more votes requires hard work that brings real improvements for our people," PKS secretary-general Anis Matta told a discussion Thursday. "Without hard work, media advertising doesn't mean that much."

But he added his party would still advertise in print and electronic media prior to the April 9 legislative elections, despite its limited funds. "Our budget for media advertising is very limited. To date, we have only allocated Rp 26 billion for it," Anis said.

He admitted it was difficult for the PKS to campaign frequently through TV spots. However, the Golkar Party said TV ads had significantly influenced the public and earned the party increased support during elections.

"Media advertisements, especially those on television and radio, have been proven to penetrate more effectively into the heart of the public, far beyond what thousands of open meetings and banners can do," Golkar campaign team head Burhanuddin Napitupulu said during the same discussion.

Citing the outcome of a Golkar internal survey, he said media advertisements had managed to boost the party's haul of votes in the 2004 elections by 15 to 20 percent.

However, Burhanuddin refused to reveal the amount of funding Golkar had allocated for media ads during the upcoming legislative elections.

"But one thing's for sure: Golkar is not running out of money to advertise in the media, but we do try to be more careful this time by deliberating advertising concepts that are more in line with Golkar's image," he said.

In the 2004 elections, it was widely reported that Golkar, the country's biggest party, spent Rp 21.5 billion on media advertising.

Nielsen Media Research recorded that some Rp 2.2 trillion went into advertisement spending in the political and government category last year. This was a significant increase of almost 90 percent compared to the Rp 1.3 trillion spent in 2007.

Analysts say a party may have to allot between Rp 120 billion and Rp 130 billion to be able to massively persuade potential voters through media ads.

That would explain why only a handful of the major political parties can afford to campaign through nationwide media ads, with most parties strapped for such large amounts of cash.

Of the 38 political parties contesting next month's legislative elections, only a third can afford to campaign massively through the media, especially television. The rest have had to resort to cheaper advertisements in local newspapers.