T

he National Mandate Party (PAN) was one of the first parties to emerge after the fall of the New Order regime in 1998. The party is preparing itself for this year's election and targeting to become a major political power at the House of Representatives. PAN Chairman Hatta Rajasa recently talked with The Jakarta Post's Hans David Tampubolon over the party's election strategy and plans for the country.

Question: What is PAN's target for the 2014 general election and its campaign strategy?

Answer: We want to improve our representation at the House from the current 7 percent to 10 percent of the seats.

Our election campaign theme is 'real work'. The party requires all of its members and legislative candidates to launch concrete programs to serve the public. One of our main programs is the Moving Forward With PAN [Mapan] program, which is an entrepreneurship program in which we provide young people with training and funding to start their own businesses.

We provide around Rp 5 million [US$428.54] per entrepreneur, which is not a large sum but sufficient to start a business. Our main objective is to improve skills and provide financial access, which will eventually facilitate more business opportunities and create more jobs in each electoral region.

Legislative candidates must also build synergy with regional governments in promoting their programs to the public because each government wants nothing more than for its people and its region to be fully developed. We also use advertisements in the media but we are not doing this on a broad scale. Our ads aim to build awareness
among voters.

Will PAN nominate a presidential candidate?

All parties, including PAN, want to be able to nominate their own presidential candidate. However, I want to stress that for now, we should focus on achieving our target in the legislative election, especially in the House.

What will a coalition with PAN look like?

Establishing a coalition is inevitable. This is the unique feature of Indonesian democracy. We are going to form a coalition with parties that share the same platform with PAN. They include the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle [PDI-P] and the Democratic Party [PD]. Like them, PAN is an inclusive nationalist party, which is open to all regardless of religion or race. I need to stress this because most people out there still think that PAN is an
Islamist-based party.

What is PAN's view on fuel subsidies?

I believe we need to restructure the subsidy allocation policy and method. We need to limit subsidy and we need to better deliver it to the proper recipients. In the future, we can no longer provide fuel subsidies in the form of price adjustments. We need to accurately provide subsidies to those that genuinely need it. This can be done because we will have accurate data provided by the Electronic Identity Card [E-KTP] database. This change in our subsidy policy will take time but it needs to be done. Failure to manage subsidies will make our economy unstable.

What is PAN's view on our depleting oil reserves and declining production?

There is a lot that needs to be done in our oil management. We have too red tape that investors must to go through. It takes years for some investors just to get the green light for exploration. The excessive red tape definitely discourages investors and, therefore, we have not been able to increase our oil reserves. In addition, our production has also declined dramatically.

I believe we need an agressive policy to attract investors in addition to an improved accountability mechanism. There needs to be a more efficient system for investment, but investors also need to guarantee adequate oil production. If they fail to fulfill this requirement, then we will not pay them.

How will PAN handle foreign investments?

We still need foreign direct investment [FDI] on a massive scale because we need to create jobs and ensure growth. But we need the FDI to go into industrial clusters outside Java. I am not anti-FDI unless it triggers more imports.

Numerous mining companies have been receiving special treatment. What's PAN's view on this matter?

We must be firm in renegotiating contracts with these companies. Our renegotiations are based on five main issues that all firms have to comply with. First, all mining companies must not be allowed to sell raw mineral ores. Second, foreign miners must not control have over a 49 percent shareholding. Third, mining companies should not be permitted to control or own too much land. I believe 25,000 hectares should be the maximum amount. Fourth, royalties need to be increased, one percent is not enough. They should be paying five times that amount. And finally, mining companies have to contribute more to the local economy, beyond the jobs that they currently offer to locals. They should be required to have locals at middle management level. They must give the local community a chance to participate in the industry as well.

When I say 'local', I did not mean 'Indonesians' because 'Indonesians' can also mean 'people from Jakarta'. What I meant was the local community in the region in which the mining companies operate.

What is PAN's take on the free market issue and its impact on Indonesia's small- and medium-scale businesses?

I do not support a liberal free market. I believe in an open social market in which the state still has the authority to intervene in order to fix market distortion. Free liberal markets are prone to distortion because strong capital intensive businesses will always be able to expand and put pressure on smaller businesses. This will eventually lead to a business oligarchy. The state needs to be in the market to protect the weak.

What is PAN's view on human rights issues and how to resolve past human rights violations?

I agree that we need to uphold human rights and the state needs to be firm in bringing violators to justice. Currently, we no longer hear violations conducted by elements of the state. However, in my opinion, it is counter-productive for us to go backward to revisit past human rights violations conducted by the state. Doing this will only open old wounds. The most important thing now is to ensure that human rights violations do not take place in the future by establishing a tolerant and moderate society.

Should the state apologize for its past human rights violations?

I like how Nelson Mandela handled the human rights violations he suffered at the hands of his own country. When he became South African president, he did go on a campaign of revenge against his former oppressors. Instead, he forgave them and promoted reconciliation. It is important to forgive but it is more important not to forget past mistakes so they do not occur again in the future in the future.

The future of the nation belongs to its youth, what is PAN's view on the current education system?

Education should not only produce intellectually smart human beings but also those who are emotionally and spiritually wise. We need to produce people who can be tolerant, responsive and humble. A good education system must be able to foster the spirit of togetherness in its students. This kind of education plants social seeds in the students to become more socially sensitive toward their surroundings.