Purwokerto – The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) is looking to bounce back from its poor performance at the ballot box in 2008 with an eye to winning the 2014 elections.

"I feel ashamed that we lost in regional elections in several regions. That should not have happened in regions that were dominated by PDI-P members," Puan Maharani, a member of party's executive board, said on Sunday when opening a coordination meeting in Purwokerto, Central Java. "We are not solid and there's too much bickering with each other," she said.

Central Java is known as a PDI-P stronghold but the party's recent poor showing in regional elections in several regencies, including in gubernatorial elections, has left the PDI-P's board members scratching their heads.

In Banyumas regency, for example, where the PDI-P boasted the largest number of supporters among other parties and held 12 seats on the legislative council, their candidate lost in the 2008 elections to the candidate nominated by the National Awakening Party, which has only 5 legislative seats. The party has also suffered defections from top regional officials who have switched allegiance to the Democratic Party.