T

he tug of war for influence in Indonesian politics has heated up with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) expressing discontent with the latest development in the legislative election mechanism. The 2014 general election victor and the largest party in the country'€™s national legislative council '€” the House of Representatives '€” is sending a strong message regarding the importance of the role played by political parties in realizing society'€™s political aspirations.

In contrast to the election law that recognizes independent candidates'€™ participation in regional elections, the PDI-P has declared it will not support allowing independent candidates to run in the 2017 regional elections, arguing that they are one way of threatening the existence of political parties.

The party is of the opinion that independent candidacies deconstruct, in a way, the existing political system that has been established for many years, and tend to make political parties unimportant.

The PDI-P stance follows the decision of Jakarta Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama to run as an independent candidate for the capital city'€™s 2017 gubernatorial election.

Ahok will also not pair up with his current deputy, PDI-P member Djarot Saiful Hidayat, in the gubernatorial contest. Instead, he will team up with Jakarta Financial and Asset Management Board (BPKAD) head Heru Budi Hartono.

'€œThe PDI-P doesn'€™t want to let the entire system we have established get ruined by one person who wants to be a governor,'€ PDI-P lawmaker Andreas Pereira said during a discussion at the Senayan legislative complex on Thursday.

Ahok currently has no political party affiliation, after quitting from Gerindra that endorsed him in the 2012 Jakarta Gubernatorial Election. NasDem, meanwhile, has expressed its support for Ahok'€™s candidacy without requiring that he join the party.

Andreas then reflected back a few years when the PDI-P backed the presidential campaign of President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo, then Jakarta governor and made Ahok take over the position left by him. Jokowi was of course later elected president in 2014.

Golkar Party lawmaker Rambe Kamarulzaman said the election law needed revising in order to make it certain that independent candidacy would not ruin the political party mechanism.

'€œIt'€™s not about supporting or backing. Political parties have their own recruitment mechanism for candidates. We are the mediators for the people'€™s sovereignty,'€ Rambe said.

House Speaker Ade Komarudin, a Golkar politician, however, said that running for office was completely within independent candidates'€™ rights.

'€œWhy should they worry about the weakening of political parties? Ahok surely knows that political parties are the pillar [that supports] this country, so he won'€™t ignore them. In the end, if elected, he will work together with parties in the Provincial Legislative Council (DPRD),'€ Ade said.

According to Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) political observer Siti Zuhro, calling independent candidacies a way of weakening political parties is an excessive response. Rather, she said, it represented a delegitimation of parties.

'€œIt'€™s the political parties that should reform their performances and improve their quality, bringing back the public'€™s trust. Nowadays, there is a mistrust from the public as parties lack seriousness in carrying out their legislative duties,'€ Siti said.

Constitutional law expert Yusril Ihza Mahendra said the Constitutional Court, indeed, had opened the door for independent candidates to run in regional elections and occupy regional executive positions. However, he continued, that did not diminish the power of political parties.