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Political parties must resolve internal conflicts for future elections
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Vice President and senior Golkar Party member Jusuf Kalla (center) is flanked by Agung Laksono (left) and Aburizal Bakrie, leaders of rival camps in the party, in Jakarta in this file photo taken in May, 2015. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama )
A
political analyst has urged all political parties with internal conflicts to resolve the disputes and better prepare for the upcoming regional and general elections.
Indonesia will see another set of simultaneous regional elections next year and legislative and presidential elections in 2019. Therefore, parties with internal divisions must agree a settlement if they want to win votes in the elections, Siti Zuhro, a senior political analyst from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said on Monday.
“With the simultaneous elections system, political parties must form a coalition long before the election. So if parties have yet to resolve their internal conflicts, it is impossible for them to form a coalition and promote a candidate for the election," Siti added.
The Constitutional Court ruled in January 2014 that Indonesia would hold the presidential and legislative elections concurrently in 2019, as different dates for the elections had previously led to rampant horse-trading and inefficiency.
However, several political parties have been struggling with internal conflicts, such as having dual leaderships leading to a reduced influence in elections.
“If they have not resolved the conflicts, the simultaneous elections will only be a procedural event,” Siti said.
The Golkar Party has been split into two factions for the past year. One faction led by Aburizal Bakrie, who was elected in a congress in Bali in November 2014, and a splinter faction led by Agung Laksono, was chosen in a congress in Ancol, Jakarta, in December 2015.
The party will hold a national meeting on May 7 in Bali in the hope of unifying the two factions.
Meanwhile, the United Development Party (PPP) has also split into two leaderships, one led by Djan Faridz from the muktamar (national congress) in Jakarta in November 2014 and another faction led by Muhammad Romahurmuziy from the Surabaya muktamar in October 2014.
The party, aiming to resolve the conflict by holding a national congress of reconciliation, or islah, at the beginning of this month, named Romahurmuzy as party chairman. (vps/rin)
