A newcomer, the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI), for example, is now trying to woo voters of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and Golkar Party, which have traditionally attracted voters with nationalistic views.

The PSI attacked both parties, which have been the most nationalist parties in the House, accusing them of being responsible for enacting discriminatory sharia bylaws because they dominate the House and Jokowi’s Cabinet.

PDI-P executive Hendrawan Supratikno admitted that there was a tight race among the parties, saying since its establishment, the PSI had been eyeing PDI-P constituents who were young and more moderate.

“Our segment is very large, thus the party [PSI] is trying to take some of our voters. However, don’t forget that the PSI is still identifies with young and elite millennials living an urban lifestyle,” Hendrawan said.

He said as a new party, the PSI was still struggling to attract voters, adding that it was still trying to prove itself.

Golkar executive Ace Hasan Syadzily said the PSI was just trying to get public attention in an attempt to boost its electability. The PSI, he added, should prove itself first and talk less.

“It’s not enough to only complain. We at Golkar, walk the talk. We have proven ourselves by the programs we have put in place for people,” Ace said.

As a seasoned player, which has existed since Soeharto’s New Order, Golkar, the country’s oldest political party, and the Gerindra Party of challenger Prabowo Subianto are the main the PDI-P’s main challengers in the April election.

A number of surveys have shown that the PDI-P still leads the polls, but not by a wide margin, ahead of Golkar and Gerindra, which are competing for, at least, second position.

The latest survey by pollster the Indonesian Survey Circle (LSI) has shown that the PDI-P tops the list with 23.7 percent, followed by Gerindra with 14.6 percent and Golkar with 11.3 percent. The PSI is far behind with only 0.4 percent. In the 2019 election, a political party has to pass at least a 4 percent parliamentary threshold to be able to secure seats in the House.

Alvara Research Center’s survey showed that the PDI-P’s electability was at 28.3 percent, while Gerindra and Golkar were at 17.3 and 9.9 percent, respectively.

“Golkar and Gerindra are competing for the runner-up position,” LSI researcher Ardian Sopa said. “Based on track records, Golkar can possibly beat Gerindra. But the party needs to do more to attract voters.”

Many political observers believe that the PDI-P and Gerindra will lead in the legislative polls as both have candidates running in the presidential election. The PDI-P endorses Jokowi, who is a party member, while Gerindra has its chairman, Prabowo as the contender, which makes both parties gain what critics call a “coattail effect”, which refers to voters’ tendency to vote for the political parties of presidential candidates.

Golkar is also a close ally of Jokowi with its chairman, Airlangga Hartarto, serving as a Cabinet minister.

A political observer from pollster Median, Ade Irfan, said nationalist parties could also secure more Muslim voters than Muslim-based parties thanks to, again, the coattail effect.

If the PSI accused other nationalist parties of becoming “less” nationalist because of the issuance of sharia bylaws, Ade said, then it was understandable that nationalist parties would have a certain “religious” agenda to woo Muslim voters, because more than 87 percent of the country’s population were Muslims.

“All political parties will hold religious activities, such as pengajian [a Quran study group], tablighakbar [religious gatherings], and recruit clerics to join their parties. In addition, most of existing Muslim-based parties have very few central figures,” Ade said.

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