Adisti Sukma Sawitri, Jakarta – A recent survey found most Jakartans would like to see the emergence of an independent candidate in August's gubernatorial election.
The Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) polled 1,090 eligible voters in the capital two weeks ago. About 64 percent of respondents said any candidate endorsed by political parties was unlikely to be able to solve Jakarta's problems if elected governor.
When the survey addressed questions specifically to party members and activists, more than 50 percent of respondents preferred a candidate selected by voters to one picked by political parties.
LSI director Saiful Mujani said Sunday the survey underlined the general distrust toward political parties and their hand-picked candidates. He said the nomination process in parties, limited to the party elite, left many people feeling the parties did not care about their interests when selecting candidates.
"It is time for the government to allow independent figures to run for any office, to accommodate people's voices that are no longer represented by the parties," Saiful said during a public discussion on independent candidates in Menteng, Central Jakarta.
The Regional Autonomy Law says a governor candidate must be nominated by a political party or a coalition of parties that won a minimum of 15 percent of the voter in the last legislative election in the province.
There have been examples in the past of parties nominating candidates who did not have the support of voters, or even of the party itself.
The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) named Fauzi Bowo as its candidate for the upcoming Jakarta gubernatorial election, even though he scored the lowest of six candidates during a fit-and-proper test given by the party's Jakarta chapter.
Fauzi also received endorsements from other major political parties such as Golkar, the Democratic Party and the United Development Party (PPP), which have formed the Jakarta Coalition to back him in the race. Legislator Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, who scored the highest on the PDI-P's test, was passed over by the party's central board because he did not pass "internal mechanisms" in the party, a source said.
Sarwono had to win the blessings of former president Abdurrahman Wahid, a founder of the National Awakening Party (PKB), to guarantee support from the party for his candidacy. He also lobbied the central board of the National Awakening Party (PAN) for their backing.
Economist Faisal Basri said money is the common language when political parties nominate candidates. Faisal had also hoped to secure nomination for the Jakarta election, but said he could not secure any party support despite their "enthusiasm" for his proposed platform. "Their applause and cheering did not translate into support for me."
The Regional Autonomy Law is currently being tested in the Constitutional Court after a councilor from West Nusa Tenggara failed to be nominated for the gubernatorial election there by his political party and demanded he be allowed to run as an independent.
Faisal said he would be willing to run as an independent candidate if the law was amended. "I'm always ready to be nominated, but I want my nomination to come sincerely from residents, not because I gave them money."