Ary Hermawan, Denpasar – The decision of the Bali chapter of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) to leave up to the national party leadership the nomination of a candidate for the 2008 gubernatorial election in Bali is detrimental to the autonomy of the party locally, a political analyst says.
"In the framework of regional autonomy, democracy means the establishment of a local government that is based on regional politics and supported by the people in the region, not a local government decided upon and selected by the party's elites at the national level," a political analyst from Udayana University, Dewa Gede Atmadja, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
PDI-P, which received more than 50 percent of the Bali vote in the 2004 general election, is considered the most effective political vehicle for the 2008 governor's race.
With 11 people – from within and outside the party – officially registered for the gubernatorial poll, competition for the PDI-P ticket is heating up.
However, at a meeting last month PDI-P Bali decided not to endorse any of the hopefuls. Instead, to avoid internal friction, they decided to leave the nomination to a mechanism to be designated by the party's national leadership and its chairwoman, Megawati Soekarnoputri.
Dewa said the decision indicated PDI-P was still plagued by internal division and that the move was necessary to avoid further weakening the party's political base in Bali. He said the move was aimed at preventing division. "I think they are doing it for efficiency's sake."
A number of governor hopefuls were said to have met with Megawati during her Idul Fitri vacation in Bali. Approval from Megawati is seen as the key to the PDI-P ticket and the holiday visits are interpreted by some as lobbying or perhaps even a gesture on the part of Megawati.
Mangku Pastika – an independent who is hoping to become the PDI-P candidate – is reported to have met with Megawati at a villa in Blahbatuh, Gianyar regency, on Monday. Some have speculated that the former Bali Police chief has won the backing of the former president of Indonesia.
Pastika admitted to having a breakfast meeting with Megawati but denied having discussed nomination of a candidate for the gubernatorial race. "No, we have not yet (discussed the issue)," he said.
Meanwhile, Megawati told PDI-P members in a speech that it would not be easy to obtain her support.
Wayan Sudirta, Nyoman Suwisma and I Wayan Wita – who are also seeking PDI-P backing but do not belong to the party – described the Blahbatuh encounter as "an ordinary non-political meeting" but also said that the PDI-P chairwoman should be careful in choosing a candidate because the party's reputation was at stake in the election.
"I believe that Megawati has her own standard for choosing a potential candidate," Wayan Sudirta told the Post.
He said the key issues for Balinese voters had not jelled and that it was difficult to get consistent survey results. However, he said that "if PDI-P picks the wrong candidate, it will face a defeat in the election".
A political analyst from Warmadewa University, Nyoman Wiratmadja, said that the Pastika-Megawati meeting might have no political significance, but that it would be only natural for other candidates to feel unsettled. "It's normal that people might wonder whether a routine meeting might be connected with an upcoming regional election. "One thing is for sure – Megawati has not issued a recommendation."
Referring to the intervention of the national party in local politics, Jakarta-based political analyst Adrinof Chaniago said that PDI-P was sitting on its own time bomb and had ignored the aspirations of the grassroots.
"It may result in open conflict in the future. It is also quite odd the local elites of PDI-P party – which is the strongest party in Bali – are not yet autonomous."