Prodita Sabarini, Jakarta – Political parties are revealing undemocratic tendencies in choosing their candidates for governor of Jakarta, with elites ending up having the final say, an analyst says.
Center for Electoral Reform chairman Hadar Navis Gumay told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that political parties are not listening to their constituents during the nominating process.
"It's not democratic, because their decisions are not based on the aspirations of the grassroots," Hadar said. "This is an illustration of the poor state of democracy within political parties in Indonesia."
One possible example is the recent decision by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) to back current deputy governor Fauzi Bowo in the August election. Hours later a giant coalition of 17 parties, including Golkar and the Democrat Party (PD), also threw its support to Foke, as Fauzi is popularly known.
PDI-P's decision to support Foke came as a surprise, since he had never been mentioned as a possible PDI-P nominee. Golkar, PDI-P's rival, had previously announced that it was supporting Foke, so many observers assumed PDI-P would not choose the same candidate.
PDI-P had been the first party to give independent candidates a chance to register. Economist Faisal Basri, legislator Sarwono Kusumaatmaja, retired Army general Bibit Waluyo and former transportation minister Agum Gumelar had sought support from the party. Their hopes were dashed by the announcement.
The party's chapter members have protested the nomination, saying Fauzi did not approach party cadres in the city.
Irwan Gading, an official at the North Jakarta PDI-P chapter, said he was disappointed because the decision ignored the voice of the grassroots members. The chapter will write a letter to the party's chairwoman, former president Megawati Soekarnoputri,"to ask for an explanation of the decision", he said.
Prakoso, also from the North Jakarta chapter, said the decision was a political game played by the party elite, and most members of PDI-P chapters rejected the decision.
"Our party will not gain any profit with the coalition supporting Fauzi Bowo, this is only a political ploy played by the elite," he said as quoted by news portal Tempointeraktif.com.
The Democrat Party's nomination of Foke was also decided by officials from the party's central office rather than its chapters.
Ferial Sofyan, the party's Jakarta chapter head, said the chapters and officials in the central office together discussed who would be nominated. However, most of the members of a Democrat Party team formed to finalize the decision were officials from the central office.
Hadar said this distanced political parties from the people, which would result in voters becoming apathetic toward the election because they do not feel that their aspirations are represented by the parties.
Hadar said the parties hold the tickets to enter the race, and are selling out to the highest bidders. "Political parties are becoming pragmatic, supporting the candidate who can give them the most money," he said.
Political analyst Komaruddin Hidayat, who is also the rector of State Islamic University, said political parties would always choose a candidate with an eye to funding as well as the candidate's closeness to political and economic power. "Usually the ones who know about these things in a party are the top elite executives," he said.