Jakarta – After securing seats at the House of Representatives, the winning legislative candidates for Jakarta said the newly changed electoral system had forced them to put extra effort into securing victories amid tighter competition.
Effendi Simbolon from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said he spent almost Rp 1 billion (US$97,000) printing huge quantities of campaign material, after realizing his five years of experience at the House counted for nothing among voters. "The voters were bombarded with a plethora of information about competing candidates during the campaign period.
"So it wasn't surprising to see them voting for candidates they'd seen more of, even without knowing their track records," Effendi told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
Combining printed material with visits to key constituencies, Effendi, who ran in the Jakarta-3 electoral district, garnered more than 60,000 votes – the highest of the three PDI-P candidates who won House seats from Jakarta.
Although successfully re-elected, Effendi said he was less than satisfied with his party's haul of 15 percent of votes in the district, down from 20 percent in 2004.
"I find the current electoral system is exhausting and ineffective, since all candidates are forced to fight individually, and inevitably put aside their obligations to support their party's position," said Effendi, who currently sits on House Commission VII overseeing energy and mineral resources.
Last December, the Constitutional Court annulled two articles in the 2008 elections law that allowed political party leaders to handpick close supporters to represent the parties in national and regional legislatures. Under the new system, legislative seats will now only go to individual candidates who garner the most votes.
Another successfully elected legislator, Achmad Rilyadi from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), spoke of similar quandries.
After studying the new electoral system, Achmad, in his maiden attempt at a House seat, decided to canvass voters more intensively, particularly with the party putting him to compete in a district where he did not reside. "I live in South Jakarta, but it was the party's strategy to put me in the Jakarta-3 district," he said.
For practical reasons, Achmad finally decided to campaign in North and West Jakarta only, and leave out the Thousand Islands. "Visiting the regency was too expensive, while the number of voters there is not that significant," he said.
Having spent more than Rp 300 million on his campaign, Achmad finally garnered more than 22,000 votes to successfully secure his seat.
In the 2009 general elections, the KPU recorded more than 7 million voters in Jakarta. Of the 21 House seats for Jakarta, six were contested in the Jakarta-1 electoral district, seven in Jakarta-2 and eight in Jakarta-3.
The tight competition also saw some prominent politicians lose their bids for House seats.
Ade Daud Nasution of the National Mandate Party (PAN) said he would go back to running his tourism and defense business, after failing to secure his reelection in the Jakarta-2 district.
Ade, 62, said he had no plans to have another go at the House in five years' time. "I'll be too old to run." (hwa)