Rallies, posters, commercials and smiling politicians have abounded over the past weeks and months. But what do the parties really stand for? This week we analyze those parties with a realistic expectation of a significant vote share and ask what their visions are. We look at two parties each day in list order. Today: PKB and Golkar

The National Awakening Party

The National Awakening Party, or PKB, should, in theory, have a strong captive market. A party that owes its birth to Nahdlatul Ulama, the country's largest Islamic organization, would logically also receive the full support of the NU.

However, the constant infighting within the party has greatly undermined PKB's chances in the upcoming elections.

A party leadership split ended up in the courts, with the government eventually recognizing the faction of Muhaimin Iskandar, leaving party founder and former President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid out in the cold.

The formation of the rival PKUN has further weakened PKB's chances of maintaining its position in 2009 as the country's third largest political party after Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDI-P.

A sign of the party's dwindling popularity was seen when it lost the gubernatorial election in East Java, an NU stronghold that in the past has been very pro-PKB.

Likewise, surveys have consistently indicated that the party may get considerably fewer votes in the 2009 elections than it did in 2004.

Some analysts have said that the recent party infighting may have left a majority of PKB's supporters confused. And since PKB's key support base comes from the grassroots level, where political platforms are virtually meaningless and the charisma of party leaders means everything, the confusion may cause voters either to abstain or choose the option that they know best – PKB.

The party's list of legislative candidates is clearly customized for each region – PKB candidates are highly popular and well-respected in the regions where they are running for legislative posts.

That may still be able to help the party avoid a dramatic fall in support during the elections.

PKB chairman Muhaimin Iskandar has optimistically said that he expects the party to get some 20 percent of the national vote in 2009, almost double the 10.61 percent it received in 2004.

Party Facts

• Official List No. 13
• Chairman Muhaimin Iskandar
• Address Jl. Sukabumi 23, Menteng, Central Jakarta
• Web site www.dpp-pkb.org
• Ideology Pancasila

Vision

To work for just, progressive and independent societies in the regions toward a prosperous Indonesia

Overview

The PKB was founded in July 1998 to accommodate the political aspirations of Nahdlatul Ulama, or NU, the country's largest Islamic movement, with some 40 million members and supporters. Former President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid, who is the son of the NU founder and a former NU chairman, founded the PKB. The party, however, has suffered from a successive series of splits and dual leadership issues that have undermined its stability. The latest split took place after Gus Dur dismissed his nephew, Muhaimin Iskandar, a PKB vice chairman, for allegedly failing to consult the party before making political decisions. The dispute, which erupted in March 2008, developed into a leadership split within the party. The case was later taken to court, and it led to the government recognizing Muhaimin's faction as the official PKB in July of the same year. The party garnered 51 seats in the House of Representatives in the 1999 elections, equivalent to 12.6 percent of the national vote. In 2004, the party did not fare as well, obtaining only 10.61 percent of the vote, which was equivalent to 52 seats because of the expanded House membership. However, even before the latest conflict, the party's NU support base had already been undermined by the establishment in 2006 of another party, the Ulema National Awakening Party, or PKNU, by a group of influential NU clerics who disagreed with the role the PKB accorded them and wanted a party that had an Islamic ideology. The rivalry with Gus Dur also took out another large chunk of supporters, including members of minority groups that had voted for Gus Dur's party in the past. Gus Dur is known as a champion of pluralism and a protector of minorities. Muhaimin has said he was optimistic the party would at least match the number of votes that it received in 2004 by developing a support base outside of Java, among other strategies.

Mission

• To enhance formal and non-formal education
• To improve the health of the people
• To enhance the prosperity of village people in the country's regions
• To enhance the planned development of the regions with an environmental orientation
• To promote a stable, clean and authoritative government
• To strengthen and develop the role and potential of the regions in national development

Presidential Candidate: Yet to announce a candidate

The Golkar Party

As the country's largest and oldest party, Gologan Karya, more widely known as Golkar, has the advantage of a well-functioning political machinery at its disposal, with members, chapters and branch offices spread out across much of the country.

Golkar is also intensively promoting its new image as a pro-reform party that has the interests of the nation high on the list of its priorities.

However, the party has been greatly weakened by internal differences in the past year over how and when it should begin to select its presidential candidate for 2009.

Many top members disapprove of the cautious approach preferred by current chairman Jusuf Kalla, who is also the country's vice president, arguing that as the country's largest and most established party, Golkar should be confident enough to come up with a candidate to support in the July 8 presidential election.

Another camp wants to maintain the current setup with the Democratic Party. However, political maneuvering within the party has led Kalla to announce his intention to run against incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who since 2004 has been his partner in governing the country.

Kalla also backtracked on his initial refusal to allow the party to select a presidential candidate before the results of the legislative elections were known.

Being a household name, Golkar does not have to work hard to force itself into the nation's consciousness. Its efforts have been focused on promoting its new pro-democracy, pro-reform and pro-people platform.

Repeated private surveys have shown that Golkar remains one of the key parties in the country, along with the PDI-P and Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, which are expected to have no problem in securing 20 percent of the vote in the elections.

Many have warned, however, that Golkar has to avoid overconfidence as the country's largest political party, and that it is imperative for the party to seek to build coalitions or alliances with other parties in order to strengthen its position for both the legislative and presidential elections.

In a bid to reach the 30 percent vote target it has set for itself in 2009, the Kalla-led Golkar has made drastic changes by allotting seats to its legislative candidates on the basis of merit.

Kalla has been quoted as saying that the change was aimed at addressing one of the party's key weakness: that many of its members were not sufficiently dedicated and motivated.

Party Facts

• Official List No. 23
• Chairman Jusuf Kalla
• Address Jl. Anggrek Nellymurni XIA, Slipi, West Jakarta
• Web site http://pusat.golkar.or.id/
• Ideology Pancasila

Vision

• An open, all-inclusive party
• An independent party, both structurally and culturally
• A democratic party, internally and externally
• A moderate, non-sectarian party
• A solid party managed in a modern and up-to-date manner
• A party rooted in society
• A responsive party that is sensitive and quick to react to the people's needs

Overview

Golkar is the oldest and largest party taking part in the 2009 elections. It was formed in October 1964 as a joint secretariat of a coalition of seven civilian and military organizations to counter the then-strong leftist tendency in the country's political system. The organization became known as Golkar in 1970, in preparation for the 1971 elections. For more than three decades, the party was the main political vehicle of President Suharto. The fall of Suharto in 1998 threatened the party's existence, but under the astute leadership of Akbar Tanjung, it managed to survive and even become stronger through the internal reforms he instituted under a "New Golkar" image. It managed to claim 22.5 percent of the vote, or 120 House seats, in the first post-Suharto elections in 1999. With a well-oiled party machinery and intense campaigning by party executives to promote its new pro-reform image, Golkar earned 21.61 percent of the vote, or 128 seats, in 2004. The party, still the biggest and the most established in the country, is now under Jusuf Kalla, who is also the country's vice president. It is targeting to get some 30 percent of the vote in the April 9 elections.

Mission

• To defend, safeguard and implement Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution
• To achieve the national ideals as stipulated in the 1945 Constitution
• To create a just and prosperous society based on Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution within the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia
• To achieve people's sovereignty to develop a Pancasila-based democracy that highly upholds and respects truth, justice, the law and fundamental human rights
• To affirm a commitment to absorb, combine, articulate and fight for the aspirations and interests of the people – especially marginalized groups
• To conduct a recruitment of quality cadres through a merit system and to obtain the support of the people for them to fill political positions
• To enhance the process of political education and communication of a dialogical and participatory nature, opening up to various thoughts, aspirations and criticisms from society

Presidential Candidate: Not yet announced, but a least seven members will compete for the nomination