TheJakartaPost
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To vote for change
The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), formerly the Indonesian Democratic Party, and the Golkar Party, the fruits of Soeharto’s simplification of the political party system, have won all the post-New Order elections, except in 2009.
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Leader in waiting: A local resident walks past a mural on the 2024 presidential election in Kedung Halang, Bogor, West Java, on June 13. Indonesia will hold its simultaneous legislative and presidential elections on Feb. 14, 2024. (Antara/Arif Firmansyah)
H
opes were high for a robust democracy in Indonesia when new political parties sprung up nearly 25 years ago. As we have witnessed since the 1999 elections, billed as the most democratic ever, only a few have survived, even thrived, while the forces born during the New Order have continued to dominate the political landscape.
The problem with the new parties, at least most of them, is they belonged to the old ones but decided to part ways following an internal feud. Ultimately, the new parties could not match their old siblings because they had nothing new to offer to voters.
In a nutshell, the rise of new players and the reforms in the political party system in the country have hardly made a difference. Elections did not really result in the rotation of the elites, as evident in the composition of political party factions in the House of Representatives, which are largely unchanged. We can even find House politicians who have served four or five terms.
The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), formerly the Indonesian Democratic Party, and the Golkar Party, the fruits of Soeharto’s simplification of the political party system, have won all the post-New Order elections, except in 2009, which saw the Democratic Party triumph. We cannot even consider the Democrats a new kid on the block when debuting in 2004, as seasoned politicians and retired military generals formed the party’s backbone.
And it is the political parties that are currently represented in the House that set a mechanism called the legislative threshold to restrict new players' access to power. As in the 2014 and 2019 elections, the upcoming legislative elections will follow the same rule: parties that fail to win support from at least 4 percent of the electorate will not have representatives in the House and all the votes they secure will go to those that qualify.
The House and the government have tried to address this irony of democracy, but certainly in order for democracy to work effectively such sacrifice is unavoidable. In 2019, the “millennial” Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI), the People’s Conscience Party (Hanura), the United Indonesia Party (Perindo) and the Crescent Star Party (PBB) were among those forced to hand their votes to the winners.
The four will try their luck in the 2024 elections after the General Elections Commission (KPU) declared them fit to contest following factual verification recently. Altogether 17 parties, nine incumbents and eight contenders, will compete to win the hearts and minds of 204 million voters.
Among the contenders, the Indonesian People's Wave Party (Gelora) and the Nusantara Awakening Party (PKN) will contest for the first time. But they are not newcomers actually, as they were founded by a faction in the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and Democratic Party (PD), respectively.
The Labor Party will make a comeback since the 2009 elections and hopes to beat the legislative threshold for the first time, after failures in 1999, 2004 and 2009.
A number of opinion surveys have found only eight or nine parties will beat the legislative threshold. But with more than a year to go, many things can happen. In the end, voters’ aspirations for change will define the outcome of the elections and the future of Indonesian democracy.
