Internal conflict in the early stages of the Democratic Nationhood Party (PDK) sent the co-founders separate ways, but the fledging party is slowly building up constituents for the 2009 elections.
The party was originally established in July 2002 as the United Democratic Nationhood Party (PPDK) by prominent regional administration expert Ryaas Rasyid and popular political commentator Andi Alfian Mallarangeng.
The party focused on issues of regional empowerment and bureaucratic reform.
In the 2004 legislative elections, the party garnered 1.00 percent of popular votes, securing four seats at the House of Representatives and a number of seats in regional councils.
The party's regional power base was concentrated in several provinces in Indonesia, especially in South Sulawesi, where both Ryaas and Andi originated from.
Following Andi's refusal to support the party's decision to back Gen. (ret) Wiranto from the Golkar Party as a presidential candidate, Andi and Ryaas split.
Andi chose to join the campaign team of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who claimed the presidency after defeating Megawati Soekarnoputri, chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), in the presidential elections that year.
He secured a strategic position in Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, and was appointed presidential spokesman in Yudhoyono's Cabinet.
In order to contest the 2009 election, Ryaas the PPDK chairman, was forced to change the PPDK's name after the party failed to pass the electoral threshold of 3 percent.
He relaunched the party on Oct. 28,2007, as the Democratic Nationhood Party.
Ryaas, a mastermind behind the drafting of the regional autonomy law and former director general of regional autonomy affairs at the Home Ministry, maintains the party's vision to launch an integrated bureaucratic reform to establish an effective and efficient administration should it win the most votes in the election.
The PDK claims that government plans for development will fail as the country lacks good governance and has thus far been unable to eradicate deep-rooted corruption, collusion and nepotism within its bureaucratic system.
Ryaas recently expressed his optimism for the party's popularity in the 2009 election, saying its political machinery had successfully expanded its constituent base, relying on growing support from village populations in eastern parts of the country.
He said the party would manage to pass the 2009 parliamentary threshold of 2.5 percent of popular votes to enable it to secure seats at the House.
