Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Signing up with a political party remains the most effective way of entering politics for young activists who want to revamp the political system, three prominent activist-cum-politicians said Saturday.

Hundreds of former university students from across the country, who mustered forces to bring down president Soeharto in 1998, have held a three-day meeting over the weekend to discuss steps to enter politics, amid their discontent over the results of nine years of reformasi.

The three activist-politicians at the meeting said parties were essential for activists because they remained the most important institutions for channeling the public's aspirations.

A former transmigration minister in one of Soeharto's cabinets and a former chairman of the Indonesian Farmers Association (HKTI), Siswono Yudhohusodo, said there were numerous paths for activists to enter parties.

"Signing up with (parties') youth or professional wings is one way. Joining youth movements, such as GMNI (the Indonesian National Youth Movement) proved good for me," he said.

Siswono, who was a vice presidential candidate in 2004, said disappointment with established parties was common, but should be dealt with by reforming parties from the inside rather than the outside.

"If parties fail your idealism, I would suggest you remain and figure out something to improve them, since working on it from the outside is ineffective," he said.

Youth and Sports Affairs Minister Adhyaksa Dault, who chaired the National Youth Association (KNPI) from 1999 to 2002, said moving into positions of power still involved membership of political parties.

"So someone either joins an existing one or establishes their own," said the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) member.

Pramono Anung, a former activist and now the secretary general of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said he would advise signing up with established political parties, each of which had a distinct ideological bent.

"It's been proven in the last two elections that new parties failed to secure adequate support. There's an ideological factor that you just cannot disseminate (among the public) instantly," he said.

Pramono said standing as an independent candidate in a regional election – an opportunity opened up by a recent decision of the Constitutional Court – was still a long way off because the necessary legal arrangements could still take some years.

"Joining an existing party makes some of the process less difficult, especially with established networks and votes from previous elections," he said.

Adhyaksa had advice for forthcoming activist-cum politicians on dealing with politics and the seduction of power and money.

"Stay in touch with your fellow activists. This will help a great deal when you have to issue policies, to get the view of those in the field," he said.

He added that progress in a country making the transition to democracy took time, so work in politics should focus more on processes than results.