Jakarta – A number of politicians and national figures who joined the mass organization National Democrat (Nasdem), founded by media mogul Surya Paloh, left the organization after a political party with a similar name and logo was established to run in the 2014 elections.
On Friday, the head of the organization's West Java branch, Sudrajat, announced his resignation from the organization.
In Central Java, dozens of members have also reportedly resigned from the organization following in the footsteps of Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono (HB) X, who said Thursday that he would leave the party after he found out that it was turning into a political party. The Sultan, like Paloh, is a member of the Golkar Party. "I joined Nasdem when it was a mass organization and not a political party," he said.
National Democrat was declared in July last year by renowned figures including Muslim intellectual Anis Baswedan and the late singer Franky Sahilatua. Paloh insisted that the organization would not transform into a political party, though analysts and his political rivals in Golkar suggested that it would.
In April, several members of the organization announced that they had formed a political party named the Nasdem Party, which would be declared on July 26. The National Democrat's leaders said the organization had nothing to do with the party, but added that the organization could not prohibit members from establishing a political party.
The party, however, has created confusion among the organization's members, said the Sultan, who sits on the organization's advisory council. "The name of the party is identical and the logo is way too similar. We are confused."
With local offices in 33 provinces, the organization could help the Nasdem Party pass the verification process at the Law and Human Rights Ministry. The new election law requires that for a party to participate in the general election, it should 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.
Compared to other new parties, Nasdem seemed more prepared to compete with older parties in the upcoming elections.
The Sultan's departure, however, will likely encourage other members to defect, analysts said. "The declaration [of the party] has been rejected by its members. Some members have even walked out of the organization. It is already a hard start," Arie Sudjito, a political analyst at Gadjah Mada University said.
Nasdem member Budiman Sudjatmiko, who is also an Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician, said he was ready to leave Nasdem if it turned political. "Politics is not why I signed up here. I joined because it is a social organization," he told The Jakarta Post.
His party had warned him about his involvement in the organization, he said. "No less than Megawati herself warned me. I told her that Nasdem was a social organization. Now that I have heard about the establishment of the Nasdem Party, I might change my opinion about it."
He said the organization's leaders should seek clarification from the party's founders about their intention to use the organization's name and logo. He said he would resign should the organization's leaders fail to discipline them.
Another Nasdem member, Akbar Faizal, who is also a member of both the House of Representatives and the People's Conscience Party (Hanura), said that he could not stay with Nasdem now that it had transformed itself into a political party.
"I am a politician from Hanura, and I will choose my party rather than this newly established party called the Nasdem Party," he said.