Real democrazy: A group of Islamic boarding school students take to the streets Friday in the northern West Java city of Cirebon to condemn the ubiquitous election posters put up by legislative candidates vying for seats in this year’s elections. The list partly reads, “Don’t vote for me because I’m a corruptor, liar, hypocrite and like to enrich myself.” ANTARA/BUDI SANTOSO

Andi Yuliani Paris, a legislative candidate from the National Mandate Party (PAN), could not conceal her fear of losing votes after failing to provide cash or basic commodities as demanded by her "constituents" during the campaign.

The senior legislator began panicking as many supporters made "mistakes" in marking their ballots in trial polls, voting for other candidates listed above or below her name on the party's list of candidates.

So she decided to use any strategy to win them back, even if she had to discredit her colleagues.

“I tell them 'I don’t know the candidates [listed above and below me],'” Andi, former deputy of the House of Representatives' special committee dealing with the 2008 election law, said Friday.

But she felt she could do nothing to stop voters turning away from her as other candidates threw cash at them.

“Every time I meet people in my election district, they always talk about money. They are proud

of naming candidates who have given them money and basic foods," she said.

“But I refuse [to give] when they ask money from me. I tell them I am a poor candidate. So if you want to vote me, just do it.”

Andi, a senior PAN member, is contesting a seat in an electoral district comprising 14 regencies across South Sulawesi.

A candidate from the Great Indonesian Movement Party (Gerindra), who declined to be named, admitted that rivalry among hopefuls from the same parties was no longer healthy.

“I tell my party supporters about my rival's weaknesses, as they do about me. It's because I don’t have enough money to ‘bribe’ the voters,” he said.

He added that to win against other Gerindra candidates as well as those from other parties, he planned to unveil the poor performances or corrupt practices of many legislators seeking reelection.

“And I believe that besides myself, many other candidates will try to corner the incumbent legislators running for reelection. The public has been made aware of their poor performance or corrupt behavior in the last five years," the candidate said.

He added all he had to do was "throw some fuel into the fire" by releasing to the media the details of corruption cases his rivals were involved in.

Experts say the ugly rivalry among candidates from the same parties is part of the fallout from the Constitution Court's ruling to give legislative seats to candidates who win the most votes.

In the past, seats were awarded to those sitting high on the party's list of candidates, regardless of how many votes they won.

But that practice opened the way for nepotism and collusion, with party members close to the leaders being placed at the top of the lists.

The legislative elections will be held on April 9, with about 12,000 candidates from 38 parties vying for 560 House seats.

Under pressure from the tight competition and desperate for seats, candidates have become selfish by not promoting their parties or fellow party candidates, said Democratic Reform Party (PDP) candidate Noor Cholis.

“Candidates eyeing regency legislatures teach voters to only tick the column for their names. They don’t care about promoting the party’s other candidates for provincial and House seats,” he said.

Andalas University legal expert Saldi Isra warned that conflicts among candidates from the same parties could loom large, both during the campaign and during vote counting.

He said the risk for conflicts was heightened by the fact that many regulations issued by the General Elections Commission (KPU) had opened loopholes that could become sources of conflict.

“There are many weaknesses in the regulations that could likely create conflicts. The unclear ruling on marking ballots, for instance, can cause polling staff to make mistakes in determining the validity of votes,” he said.

“Another problem is that the Constitutional Court will not receive the complaints lodged by

individual candidate, creating the possibility that many conflicts will be settled by muscle rather than law.”

The court has said it would only handle conflicts presented by political parties.

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