Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – The recent verdict of the Constitutional Court allowing independent candidates to contend local elections will pose no threat to political parties, politicians said Friday.
The chairmen of the United Development Party faction at the House of Representatives, Lukman Hakim, National Mandate Party faction, Zulkifli Hasan, and Prosperous Justice Party faction, Mahfudz Sidik, said the presence of independent candidates will be both challenge and opportunity to uphold democracy and improve its quality.
But they said all candidates, including independent ones, had to be equally treated, particularly in their compliance with administrative and legal requirements. "On paper, it's easier for political parties to win support for their candidates, thanks to networking in subdistricts and villages or rural areas," said Sidik.
The Constitutional Court has revised articles 56 and 59 of Law No. 32/2004 of regional administration, giving space for independent candidates to contend local elections. It also orders the General Elections Commission (KPU) to make necessary technical rulings for independent candidates.
Zulkifli said independent candidates, especially in densely populated provinces and regencies, would have difficulty securing political support and the KPU would have difficulty with its verification.
Lukman, Zulkifli and Sidik acknowledged the court's decision might indicate that the public is disappointed with underperforming political parties, but stressed that almost all state institutions were facing a crisis of confidence.
"Despite the legitimacy crisis, democracy can not be left to 'street politicians' and it must be institutionalized," Lukman said.
He said the court's decision was a challenge for political parties to reform the party system and to consolidate democracy in order to enable them to nominate their own members to contest local elections.
Maswadi Rauf, a political analyst at the University of Indonesia, however, criticized the verdict, saying it was a serious threat to political parties.
"The verdict is not based on the current political reality and the 1945 Constitution, which gives the only political route to parties in the recruitment of public officials," he said.
He questioned the legitimacy of the powerful court, comprising of justices with political legitimacy and less competence in upholding the Constitution and the law.
Maswadi said the court was giving the state affairs to capital owners and "hoodlums" who had money and supporters but no competence in state and administrative affairs.
He said that the people's disappointment with the poor party system had much to do with the House's poor performance and the presence of political "adventurers" abusing the people for their own political interests.
"The political bills being read by the House should be of the best quality to ensure a better party system and the people's sovereignty in electing their own leaders," he said.
Maswadi also said the court's verdict also made it possible for independent candidates to run in the 2009 presidential election and this had to be anticipated in deliberating the bill on presidential elections.
He and the three politicians agreed that the government and the House should make a special law on local elections, instead of the proposed government regulation in lieu of a law, and that it would take at least a year before the court's verdict was enforceable.
They said the coming 14 local elections in provinces and regions were vulnerable to political chaos because of the absence of a special law to enforce the court's verdict.