Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – Indonesia's two largest political parties have recommended for a smaller number of parties contest the 2009 general election in order to achieve effective democracy in the country.
Secretary general of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Pramono Anung Wibowo, said Tuesday that the ideal number of parties for the upcoming election was 15, comprising seven old parties, which were able to meet the electoral threshold in the 2004 election, and eight new parties.
"Toward a better process of democracy, we need to simplify our multi-party system by consolidating the parties since there are some new parties whose ideologies overlap with each other," Pramono said in a discussion on the role and position of political parties.
"Hopefully the consolidation will run well so that we will not see too many parties running in the 2009 election," he said. He said there were currently almost 100 parties were enrolled to contest the election.
Former chairman of the Golkar Party Akbar Tandjung agreed, saying it was not necessary to have so many parties with Indonesia's presidential system.
"We need to encourage for a convergence in our multi-party scheme to build a simpler political system," he said. "This can be achieved by tightening the requirements for parties that wish to run in the election, for example by applying a higher electoral threshold."
The number of political parties has been growing since the reform era. There were 48 parties participating in the 1999 general election. Meanwhile, the 2004 polls only saw 24 parties pass the verification process out of 112 registered parties.
A legal expert at the University of Indonesia, Ramly Hutabarat, said, "Small parties will have to accept strict requirements for the upcoming election whether they like it or not, because it is important to establish a more effective democracy.
"Therefore, there will only be qualified parties running in the election," he said. "But the most important thing is that the selection process has to be conducted in a democratic way."
Ramly, who was head of the team verifying political parties for the 2004 election, said that newly established parties should not only complete their documentation to run in the upcoming election but also have proper facilities, including establishing organizing committees at the branch level.
Chairman of the newly established Hanura Party, Gen. (ret) Wiranto, agreed a simplified multi-party system was needed. "There should be a single majority or a coalition of political parties to establish strong leadership in the country," he said.