Ulma Haryanto & Anita Rachman – It's official: the media mogul-backed National Democratic Party will contest the 2014 elections.
The party known as NasDem, which has set its eye on a top-three finish in the next presidential election, is the first of four new parties to receive the stamp of approval from the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.
"So far, Nasdem is the only party that has fulfilled all requirements as a legal political party," Justice and Human Rights Minister Amir Syamsuddin told reporters in a teleconference from Palembang, where he was attending the opening ceremony of the XXVI Southeast Asian Games.
NasDem secretary general Ahmad Rofiq told the Jakarta Globe that the news was a relief, after all the hard work done by the party in preparation for the verification process.
With the ticket for the next election in its pocket, NasDem, which recently welcomed media tycoon Hary Tanoesoedibjo as a member, said it would work even harder. Rofiq said Nasdem wanted to have representatives in 79,000 villages across the country.
"Once we have [representatives] in villages, votes will come," he said. "Our representatives there will listen to people's opinions."
Pundits have noted how NasDem could flex its muscle in the next elections with its increased capital and media power.
Hary, who joined the party as chairman of its Council of Experts, rules over the MNC media empire that includes television, radio, online and print media. NasDem co-founder and former top Golkar Party leader Surya Paloh owns the Media Indonesia daily and Metro TV.
The joy felt by NasDem, however, has yet to be duplicated by three other parties that also applied for verification.
One is the Insulinde National Prosperity Party (PKBN), founded by Yenny Wahid, daughter of the late President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid. The Independent People's Union (SRI) Party, which earned substantial media coverage after it said it wanted to nominate former Finance Minister and current World Bank managing director Sri Mulyani Indrawati as its presidential candidate, is another. The third party waiting for verification is the Republican Works Party (Pakar), founded by Ari Sigit, a grandchild of former President Suharto.
Deputy House Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso from Golkar, although congratulating NasDem for its success on the verification, questioned the ministry's decision to only announce the approval of one party. "I imagine they are going to approve all the parties that applied," Priyo said.
The ministry insisted it would give the three parties until Nov. 25 to fulfill all the administrative requirements. "We are giving them another opportunity to meet the technical requirements. We don't want technical matters hindering people's political rights," Justice and Human Rights Deputy Minister Denny Indrayana said.
Damianus Taufan, chairman of the SRI Party, told the Globe he was sure his party would meet all the administrative requirements before Nov. 25.