Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The single floor medium-sized building looked like an ordinary house. One would find it difficult to know it is the headquarters of a national political party.
The building, located at Jl. Bukit Duri Tanjakan, Tebet, South Jakarta, belongs to the National Sun Party (PMB), one of the 2009 legislative election contestants that failed to gain even a single seat in the House of Representatives.
The building was almost empty, with its front door closed, when The Jakarta Post visited last week.
A noodle seller in the front yard said the building had been almost completely empty. "I haven't seen any PMB officials here for more than a month," he said, adding that the presence of party chairman Imam Addaruqutni at the office had been a very rare scene.
Similar circumstances were also the case for almost all parties that failed to pass the electoral threshold after the 2009 election. Some did not post signs at their offices, while others moved out without leaving clues about their new offices with their former neighbors.
The PMB was established in late 2006 by National Mandate Party (PAN) youngsters who considered that PAN had failed to fight for the hopes of Muhammadiyah, Indonesia's second-largest Muslim organization.
The PMB failed to send any representatives to the House, having only gained 414,750, or 0.4 percent, of the total 104.1 million votes in the 2009 legislative election. PMB's votes were below the 2.5 percent legislative election threshold, preventing it from any seats in the House of Representatives.
Three years ahead of the next election, today the PMB is struggling to compete again. They know that given their limited resources, it will be difficult to mobilize supporters. However, together with 16 other smaller parties, they have kept their hopes alive.
The 17 parties, grouped under the National Union Forum (FPN) and with various ideological leanings, have joined hands to seek justice. They filed a judicial review with the Constitutional Court, asking the court to annul the newly-endorsed Law on Political Parties.
"This is not about how bad our offices are. This is about our constitutional right to form a party," FPN Secretary-General Didi Supriyanto told the Post.
The law requires all established parties, both those having legislative seats or not, as well as new parties, to register for verification at the Law and Human Rights Ministry. It also obliges a party to have offices in all 33 provinces, 75 percent of the cities and regencies in each province and 50 percent of the districts in each city and regency.
For the minor parties, the reason why they will do anything to survive is clear – the majority of Indonesians are abstainers who opt not to vote for the major parties.
A recent survey by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) showed that all nine House parties had shown decreasing popularity trends, with the biggest drop posted by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party. "It was unusual. It could mean a higher number of abstainers," LSI political analyst Burhanuddin Muhtadi said.
For non-House parties, the potential abstainers are a boon. "If they don't believe in any party at the House, they might pick us in the next election. But the dominating parties are aware of that threat and trying hard to eliminate us," Didi said.
Peace Prosperous Party (PDS) chairman Denny Tewu denied that he was not afraid to face the election, claiming that his party had almost fulfilled all the requirements. The PDS has been among parties filing the judicial review.
Didi acknowledged the worst possibility would be if they fail to have the law repealed. "We have backup plans in case the Constitutional Court rejects our request. Parties under the FPN may merge to form a new, larger party," he said.
All 17 parties under the FPN gained a total votes of 12 million in 2009 election, accounting 11.6 percent of total votes nationwide. The Democratic Party gained 20.85 percent in 2009, while the Golkar Party had 14.45 percent and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) had 14.03 percent.
However, is it feasible for the Christian PDS to merge with Islamic parties? Denny refused to comment. "The merger is indeed an option, but it is not the only one. If possible, we still want to go on our own by maximizing all the resources we can get."