Ezra Sihite – With its new media and financial clout, the four-month-old NasDem Party is aiming for a top-three finish in the 2014 legislative elections, but it still isn't ready to talk presidential candidates.

"We haven't discussed a presidential candidate yet because we're not just focused on ruling the government, but yes, it is our target to become one of the big three in the 2014 elections," NasDem deputy chairman Sugeng Suparwoto said on Thursday, the second day of the party's national leadership meeting.

Members of the party, he said, have been urged not to speculate on possible presidential candidates. "We want to focus on winning the 2014 elections without being divided over internal presidential candidates," he said.

NasDem showed it could be a serious contender in 2014 when it announced on Wednesday that media magnate Hary Tanoesoedibjo had joined the party.

It already had plenty of media muscle on its side with party co-founder Surya Paloh, who owns the Media Indonesia daily newspaper and Metro TV.

Even so, Yunarto Wijaya of the political research institute Charta Politika said two things made Hary's NasDem affiliation interesting – media power and money. "But don't forget to look at the party's electoral strength," he said on Wednesday.

Yunarto also said the party should declare its presidential candidate immediately. "Indonesians still basically worship personalities, and I have not yet seen any strong figures from NasDem," he said.

Party chairman Patrice Rio Capella said Hary's affiliation would improve the party's image. "Hary Tanoe's presence [in politics] will definitely have a positive impact on the nation and it will definitely strengthen the party," he said. "He's a national class businessman, not just a regular person."

Hary, who rules over the MNC media empire of television, radio, online and print media, is joining NasDem as the chairman of its Council of Experts. It is his first serious foray into politics.

Patrice is not shy about making it clear that he intends to use Hary's influence in the media and business world to help the party, describing the media mogul's move into politics as a golden opportunity for NasDem.

"We ask people without media outlets to join the party, but imagine our excitement at someone who does have them," he said. Others, however, are not as happy about Hary's jump into politics and have vowed to stop the "unhealthy" trend of turning media outlets into campaign tools by devising new regulations on campaign funding and advertising.

About 1,800 representatives from NasDem's 33 provincial offices and 497 district offices are attending the party's meeting at the Mercure Hotel in North Jakarta. NasDem says it has 4,607,954 members nationwide.

But despite the fanfare, the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights has not yet verified the new party, a necessary requirement if it is to participate in the 2014 elections.

The ministry was supposed to make an announcement on Oct. 22 but has so far been silent on whether the party had qualified to contest the elections. Sugeng said NasDem had fulfilled all the requirements set by the ministry and the 2011 Law on Political Parties.

The law stipulates that a new party must register at least 30 months before an election. It also says a party must have 100 percent representation at the provincial level, 75 percent at the district level and 50 percent at the subdistrict level.

"This is about our national agenda and the party's legality, which will become our political basis," Sugeng said. He added that the party would consider filing a lawsuit unless the ministry explained the delay and provided a definitive time frame for its announcement.