Jakarta – Indonesia's political parties have to do more and talk less to improve their public image, the Reform Institute said.

Executive director of the institute Yudi Latif said political parties had to improve social welfare and avoid establishing any more "just for show" wing organizations.

He said parties had to establish recruitment systems to ensure new members had the ability to work with people, before concentrating on further education for existing members.

"Without improvement that touches people in the heart, it will be useless to talk about wing organizations set up by political parties," Yudi said. "Political parties have to contribute to efforts to improve real conditions," he said Sunday.

Many political parties in Indonesia have decided to expand their voter base by establishing wing organizations. Earlier this year, the nationalist-secular Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) set up a Muslim-based wing organization called Baitul Muslimin (the House of Muslims).

And the United Development Party (PPP) plans to expand its voter base via new professional groups and a group focused on first-time voters. PPP is trying to improve its image from an Islamic-based conservative party to a moderate Islamic political party.

But the University of Indonesia's political expert Arbi Sanit said the government with the House of Representatives had to improve the national party system, which allowed political parties to participate as long as they were able to meet the electoral threshold of 3 percent.

"Political parties will never reach their target... or be able to perform better political work... if we have more than 20 political parties in the country," Arbi said. "The government must do something to decrease the number of parties in order to give the ruling party more focus for their programs."

The Home Affairs Ministry and the House are currently discussing a package of bills on the national political system, which includes a debate on the electoral threshold.