Camelia Pasandaran & Rangga Prakoso – The fledgling National Democratic Party vowed on Tuesday to fight any efforts to bar it from the general and presidential elections in 2014.

The House of Representatives is considering requiring political parties to have been registered at the Justice and Human Rights Ministry for at least five years before they can take part in general and presidential elections. NasDem, backed for former Golkar figure Surya Paloh, was established in July.

A draft bill on elections is set to be deliberated in the House in April. If passed, it will introduce tougher requirements for new parties.

"If it is enacted, we feel that it is a way to hamper us [from participating], and we will fight against it," Ahmad Rofiq, the secretary general of the party, said on Tuesday. "As soon as the bill is passed, we're going to submit it to the Constitutional Court."

Golkar politician Indra J. Piliang on Tuesday said that NasDem, as a newly established party, would not be eligible to field candidates in the 2014 elections.

Arif Wibowo, a lawmaker from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said the issue would be discussed during the deliberation.

"The idea is to tighten up the requirements for political parties so that only serious parties that are strong and have good credibility can join the election," Arif said.

"But it has not been included yet [in the draft bill], as we're shifting away from revising the election law and toward creating a completely new election law."

Arif said that the details of the requirement would be discussed later with the government, as there were many issues to be considered. The five-year minimum was only one possibility, he said.

"Even though it has not yet been included in the bill, I am not saying that it would not be included," he said. "The possibility is always there, as our aim is to ensure that the political parties in the running are those with good reputations."

I Gusti Putu Artha, a member of the General Elections Commission (KPU), said the commission would comply with the new election law, regardless of what it contained.

"We don't get to decide who runs. The new law does. In any case, the [KPU's] verification process for political parties to run in the election is extremely arduous," Putu said.

Rofiq said that there was no reason for the existing parties in the House to differentiate between new parties and those that have been long-established.

"If they come up with such a requirement, we should question whether it is based on logic or other motives," Rofiq said. "But we're not afraid, as we have the ability to ask the Constitutional Court for a review."

In August, the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights announced that 15 new parties had registered for the 2014 election.