Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – Political parties will use alternative mechanisms to select legislators despite the election law requiring selection based on the numerical order system, which is a closed election process.
Some parties say they would follow the law while others would select their lawmakers based on the most votes each candidate wins in an electoral district during the 2009 legislative election.
The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said it would implement a combination of both the numerical and open polls systems to ensure free internal competitions.
"On the one hand, we will uphold the law but we will also implement an internal policy," PDI-P secretary general Pramono Anung said.
He said PDI-P candidates who win 30 percent of the votes in their respective areas as required by the election law would automatically win legislative seats although they would be assigned to the lowest rank of the party's legislative candidates.
"We will provide the remaining votes to legislative candidates ranked in the top of the lists. It will be our way to respect the party's cadres," Pramono said.
The PDI-P, the opposition party which is chaired by former president Megawati Soekarnoputri, submitted its names of 620 legislative candidates to the General Elections Commission (KPU) on Monday.
The numerical method, a way of determining legislators as adopted in the 2008 election law, allows the central board of every political party to appoint its loyalists to legislative bodies.
Loyalists to party leaders commonly topped the lists of legislative candidates and contested the elections in their party's strongholds to ensure they would secure legislative seats.
The country will hold legislative elections on April 9, 2009, with 38 political parties competing for 560 seats in the House of Representatives.
New members for local legislative bodies and the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) will also be elected at that time.
The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) said it would comply with the prevailing election law in determining its legislators.
PKS secretary-general Anis Matta said the move to select lawmakers based on the open polls system was mostly prompted by internal conflicts within the concerned parties.
"It is mandated in the PKS to be a legislator so there is no conflict in our party; we will adhere to the election law," he said. The PKS registered its 573 legislative candidates Tuesday with the KPU for the 2009 election; 35 percent of its candidates are women.
Meanwhile, New Indonesia Party of Struggle (PPIB) secretary general Edi Danggur said his party would join the growing trend and adopt the open election system.
"We will apply the open system because we want our elected legislators to be chosen by the people so they will know their respective constituents," he said. The PPIB proposed a list of 55 legislative candidates on Tuesday for the election.
The country's largest party, Golkar, decided last week to similarly apply an open polls method, taking the lead in promoting a more democratic system.
The decision was made in a leadership meeting of Golkar led by Vice President and party chairman Jusuf Kalla in a bid to respect its members who have worked hard in the interests of their supporters.
KPU chairman Abdul Hafiz Anshary has said the poll body would uphold the existing mechanism in accordance with the 2008 election law.
Election watchdogs have expressed doubt that the upcoming election would favor elected candidates with voter legitimacy because the law recognizes the dominant influence of party executives.