Margareth S. Aritonang, Jakarta – With only a small number of political parties contesting the 2014 legislative election, there will only be minor changes in the country's future political landscape, predicts political analyst.

Responding to the General Election Commission's (KPU) decision to allow only 10 political parties to compete in the 2014 legislative election, University of Indonesia (UI) political analyst Andrinof Chaniago predicted that the country's political landscape would remain unchanged as the major players in the next election would maintain their entrenched interests.

Andrinof said that none of the political parties – including the newly admitted National Democratic (NasDem) Party – offer a fresh perspective on public policy and would only be preoccupied with petty politics.

"I don't think that those parties are policy oriented. They are busy trying to gain more power for their respective parties and the future of democracy in the country will still be dominated by conflict between politicians who fight over political and economic influence," Andrinof said.

The KPU announced early on Tuesday that of the 10 political parties were eligible to contest the 2014 legislative election nine are established parties that already had seats in the House of Representatives and one is new. The sole new political party declared eligible, NasDem, will join the nine existing parties in the election.

Parties that failed the verification process – and will therefore be ineligible to participate in the 2014 election – include the Star Crescent Party (PBB), the Indonesian Justice and Unity Party (PKPI), the National Unity Party (PPN) and the National Care for People's Party (PPRN).

The presence of NasDem on the list also raised the potential of media wars ahead and during the 2014 election.

National coordinator of the National Voters Committee (KPI) Jeirry Sumampow warned about possible biased reporting during the campaign period as several parties are linked to media companies such as Media Nusantara Citra (MNC) and Metro TV, which are tied to NasDem.

MNC's president director Hary Tanoesodibjo is a member of NasDem's central board, while Metro TV owner, media baron Surya Paloh is a founding member of the same party. Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie meanwhile controls news channel TVOne and ANTV.

Jeirry called on media authorities to closely watch outlets controlled by the politically-connected individuals.

"Although the public is becoming more critical, the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission [KPI] and the Indonesian Press Council must closely monitor the impartiality of the media, especially those with close links to any of the parties," Jeirry said.

Jeirry said that the small number of parties would help voters make their choice. He said that the 2014 election would be more cost-effective as the KPU could save money by printing smaller-sized ballots. Thirty-four parties participated in 2009 election and 24 parties in 2004.

Executive director of the Associations for Elections and Democracy (Perludem) Titi Anggraini said that with the news media controlled by politicians, voter education would play a more critical role. "Poll watchdogs should not only concentrate on ballot details, but they should also help voters identify good candidates and programs," she said.

A number of pollsters have predicted that secular political parties would dominate the 2014 election, with Golkar expected to come out on top. With the Democratic Party currently being battered by graft scandals, pollsters predict that its supporters would opt for NasDem, further boosting the popularity of the new party.

All major Islam-based political parties are expected attain less than 5 percent, and collectively would only garner 20.1 percent of the votes.