Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – As a key deadline passed on Thursday, five new political parties say they have completed the documentation needed to run in the 2014 polls.
Nine other parties that registered with the Law and Human Rights Ministry in August have been eliminated as they did not submit their documents.
"Only new parties that have completed administrative requirements will be subject to the next phase: fact-checking," the ministry's state administration director Asyarie Syihabudin told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
Some of the parties that have fulfilled administrative requirements include the National Archipelago Prosperity Party (PKBN), whose members were drawn from former National Awakening Party (PKB) member; the National Democrats Party (Nasdem), an affiliate of the National Democrats mass organization founded by former Golkar Party chief patron Surya Paloh; and the Functional Republic Party (Pakar) chaired by Ary Haryo Wibowo Harjojudanto, the grandson of former president Soeharto.
The other two parties are the Union of Independent People Party (SRI), which supports former finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati for president, and the Independent Party whose additional submissions came only minutes before the deadline passed at 5 p.m.
One of the nine parties that failed to file complete documents after registering with the ministry was the National Republic (Nasrep) Party, founded and financed by Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, the owner of the Humpuss Group conglomerate and one of Soeharto's sons.
Nasrep's failure to meet the deadline surprised many, as the party seemed well prepared and equipped with luxury facilities and big offices. According to Asyarie, Nasrep had retracted its application well before the deadline. "They did not mention why they decided to quit," he said.
Nasrep chairman Jus Usman Sumanegara, however, did not answer clearly when asked for confirmation. "The point is, we still have the spirit to be election contestant," he told the Post.
Observers say that Soeharto's extended family did not want multiple parties representing their supporters, and selected Pakar to represent the political aspirations of the Soeharto family and its supporters.
The One Republic Party, another party founded by Soeharto supporters, also did not complete its application.
One party will take a different approach to meeting administrative requirements. National Union Party (PPN) secretary-general Didi Supriyanto said the party made a deliberate decision not to continue.
Didi cited a recent Constitutional Court ruling overturning part of the 2011 Political Party Law that said parties that failed to win a single House seat cannot run in the next election unless they file new applications with the government as new political parties.
"Our party is comprised of 12 political parties that contested the 2009 elections but failed to win House seats. The court's ruling means that each of these 12 parties is no longer obliged to file a new application," Didi told the Post.
The court's decision cleared the way for PPN to run in the 2014 race based under the aegis of the Regional Unity Party (PPD), one of PPN's 12 forming parties, Didi said. "We will just change the party's name and organizational structure."
Next week, the ministry plans to start a random fact-checking program to verify if parties' human and physical resources meet the requirements of the 2011 Political Parties Law.
"We will check if the parties' local branches really exist and if the offices have obtained permission from local authorities. We will also look at the organizational structure of each party, down to its local branches," Asyarie said.
Law and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar is expected to announce which parties can run in 2014 by the end of October.
New parties passing the ministry's verification and previously verified parties face a final legal review by the General Elections Commission (KPU).