Jakarta – The Republika Nusantara (RepublikaN) Party, a newly-founded political entity, aims to become the first and only party in Indonesia with International Organization for Standardization certification.

RepublikaN's secretary-general, Yus Sudarso, said the ISO certification was aimed at gaining and maintaining the people's trust and ensuring that the party will provide quality management.

"With the ISO 9001:2000, all management is bound to fulfilling the regulations underlining the certification. If the certification is canceled due to misconduct, the public shouldn't vote for our party," Yus said Monday at the party's launching.

The party's ISO consultant, Recky Hendra Saputra, said ISO certification has been rarely used by political parties.

"This party seems to be the first and only party to use ISO in Indonesia. In business, the certification is aimed at customer satisfaction, while in politics it is aimed at gaining constituent confidence," said Recky, who is also the director of PT Talenta Bisnis Indonesia.

He said the ISO certification required that management be held accountable for matters ranging from policy making to program creation.

"There will be requirements for human resources recruitment, infrastructure, working environment and operational work," Recky said. "We will do the certification gradually, beginning with party branches up to chapters."

He said the certification could be finalized within six months and would be valid for three years. The party will undergo surveillance and auditing every six to 12 months.

"We will use an independent certification agency, World Quality Assurance from the United Kingdom, because that country has the oldest parliament," he said.

The party is set to register with the Justice and Human Rights Ministry next week and will establish an organizational structure in the coming month.

Of the party's members, 25 percent are from the transportation community, 15 percent are from the education and health sectors, 10 percent are professionals and 50 percent are from the general public.

RepublikaN co-founder Murphy Hutagalung said the party's goal is to enter a candidate for the presidential election to be held at the end of 2009. The party is hoping to receive between 15 and 20 percent of votes in the earlier 2009 general election.

"The transportation community has existed for 45 years, but our voice has never been heard. By forming this party, we hope to get a more significant response from the government," said Murphy, who is also chairman of the Jakarta Organization of Land Transportation Owners.

The transportation industry alone has some 16 million workers.