Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono assembled leaders of tiny political parties at his residence on Sunday evening, in what one observer said was an attempt to garner support for his own party in the 2014 elections.
Aside from the leaders of 17 of the 29 parties that won no parliamentary seats in last year's elections, Yudhoyono also invited the leaders of parties that form his coalition government, as well as figures who helped make his presidential election a success.
They were gathered in a fast-breaking dinner at Yudhoyono's private residence in Cikeas, near the rain city of Bogor.
The 17 parties formed the National Unity Forum (FPN), whose chairman, Oesman Sapta, also delivered a speech at the Sunday evening banquet.
"Combined, the 29 parties garnered between 18 and 19 percent of the total votes. This is not a small figure," Burhanuddin Muhtadi of the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) told The Jakarta Post.
"If at least 50 percent of the votes went to [Yudhoyono's] Democratic Party, it could gain 30 percent of the total vote in the 2014 elections,"
The Democratic Party topped the 2009 legislative elections, collecting a total of 21 percent of the vote.
Given that Yudhoyono would not be allowed to seek a second re-election because the Constitution does not allow it, Burhanuddin said, the Democratic Party – which depends heavily on Yudhoyono's popularity – needs to explore various other means to ensure continued support in the 2014 legislative elections.
"With these small parties unable to meet the proposed 5 percent parliamentary threshold, Yudhoyono may expect them to merge with the Democratic Party instead."
Burhanuddin added that the President could also be attempting to side up to Oesman, who chairs a splinter group of the Indonesian Farmers Association (HKTI), in an effort to reach out to the farming community that is more likely to vote for HKTI chairman Prabowo Subianto and his Gerindra Party.
"All parties have now set their eyes on the 2014 elections. It's only normal for the Democratic Party to be doing that too."
In his speech, Yudhoyono made a special mention of Oesman, saying he had met him at various political discussion forums long before the reform era began, after the fall of president Soeharto in 1998.
He asked Oesman and leaders of other small parties to "play an active role in developing the nation, not just ahead of the 2014 elections, but also in the years afterward."
Oesman said the 17 parties under the FPN were opposed to the proposal to increase the parliamentary threshold to 5 percent from the present 2.5 percent.
The increase, he said, was also rejected by seven of the nine parties with seats in the House of Representatives.
"The 2.5 percent threshold was already too hard for us to achieve. If the big parties want to increase it even further, where will the large number of excess votes go? It's unfair," Oesman said. His appeal, however, received no response from Yudhoyono.
Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum said the President had no intention to use the gathering to garner the smaller parties' support.
"It's just an informal get-together between all members of the coalition supporting SBY-Boediono," Anas told The Jakarta Post.