The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Political parties in Indonesia were first established to galvanize the people and foster Indonesian nationalism, which led to independence in 1945. But far from being about the people, contemporary political parties, in the eyes of the public, work more for the political elites.

The first political party, the Indische Partij, established by E. F. E Douwes Dekker, Tjipto Mangunkusumo and Soewardi Soerjaningrat (later Ki Hajar Dewantara) was established in 1912 to foster nationalism. The party was declared subversive in 2013 and both Tjipto and Soewardi were exiled to the Netherlands.

Later parties include the Indische Sosial Democratishe Vereniging (ISDV), established in 1914, the Indische Katholike Partij in 1918, the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) in 1920, the Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI) in 1924 and the Greater Indonesia Party (Parindra) in 1931. All of these parties organized the Indonesian people and defied the colonial rulers until independence.

Since independence, the country has seen significant changes in the number of parties in the legislature. The first election in 1955, which could be seen as the beginning of the legislative body as we see today, resulted in representatives from 28 parties running the legislature representing three major ideologies: nationalism, Islam, and Marxism/socialism.

New Order comes and goes

Parties were established, parties were disbanded and the 32 years of New Order happened, in which parties were “fused” into three parties only: state party the Golkar Party, the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) and the United Development Party. A depoliticization of the people, called the “floating mass”, occurred and the three political parties only became the actors of ritualistic elections in which Golkar always won.

Reformasi in 1998 brought much hope, but apparently many Indonesian people still think political parties do not work exactly for the people but rather for the elites. The absence of a functional opposition in the legislature has fostered a perception of untrustworthiness that persists today.

Low public trust

A survey carried out by Indikator in May this year showed that the House of Representatives, in which nine political parties have seats, saw a decline in public trust from 74.6 percent in February to 60.1 percent. Compared to the President, the Indonesian Military, the National Police, the People’s Consultative Assembly and the Corruption Eradication Commission, the House scored the lowest. This survey’s result was similar to a 2019 survey by pollster Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI), in which the House had the lowest score in terms of public trust.

A 2017 survey by Transparency International’s Global Corruption Barometer, showed that in the eyes of the public, the House was the most corrupt state institution.

The 575 legislators elected by about 190 million Indonesians coming from 80 electoral districts in 34 provinces in 2019 are supposed to provide checks and balances on the government’s performance. But seven out of the nine parties – the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the Golkar Party, the Gerindra Party, the NasDem Party, the National Awakening Party (PKB), the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Mandate Party (PAN) – were part of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s administration, leaving most, if not all, of Jokowi’s policies unchallenged.

Only two parties – the Democratic Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) – are considered opposition as they are not members of the ruling coalition.

Many of the current parties are the result of infighting in the bigger ones.

Battle of elites

Historically speaking, Golkar, which was initially founded by the Army as an attempt to challenge the then-growing Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), has contributed to the establishment of the largest number of parties, thanks to frequent infighting over party control or political stance within Golkar.

Existing parties in the legislature that resulted from Golkar infighting include Gerindra and the NasDem party. Much of the infighting involves party elites such as Gerindra’s patron Prabowo Subianto. Prabowo joined Gerindra and later took over the party in July 2008 after leaving Golkar following his defeat in the party’s convention to elect a presidential candidate. NasDem’s patron, media mogul Surya Paloh, followed suit five years later, leaving Golkar after losing a 2009 chairmanship race to Aburizal Bakrie, a politician-cum-businessman. Paloh founded NasDem in July 2011.

In addition to Gerindra and NasDem, internal conflict within Golkar throughout history has resulted in the establishment of six other parties including Hanura and the Berkarya Party.

Hanura was established in 2006 by erstwhile Golkar politician Wiranto, who was Golkar’s presidential candidate in 2004. Following his failure to become the president, he left Golkar and established Hanura. In 2013, Hanura got support from tycoon Hary Tanoesudibjo, who was a NasDem politician. But in 2015, a fight between Wiranto and Hary resulted in the latter’s departure from Hanura. Hary established Perindo in 2015 and the party participated in the legislative elections last year.

Golkar politician Hutomo “Tommy” Mandala Putra established the Berkarya Party, which is currently struggling with infighting. Tommy, the youngest son of former Golkar oligarch Soeharto, recently lost the party leadership to Muchdi Purwoprandjono, a former State Intelligence Agency (BIN) deputy chief and former commander of the Army’s Special Forces (Kopassus).

More political parties will attempt to enter the legislature in 2024 as more get established approaching the 2024 elections. The most recent is the Gelora Party, which has resulted from an internal conflict within the PKS. The party was founded in October last year by a number of former PKS elites who lost control over the party to the current leadership. Looking to present an Islam-based party with a more nationalist face, Gelora is an “Indonesianized PKS”, as referred to by party executive Mahfudz Siddiq.

Not an ideological fight

Internal conflict within the country’s political parties has occurred since before the country’s independence from Dutch colonialism 75 years ago. A joint study by Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) researchers in 2017, however, concludes that pragmatism, not ideology, has been a significant factor in the infighting within parties since the Reform Era, unlike before the New Order era when parties would likely be involved in infighting due to contesting ideologies.

According to the study, the lack of clear and strong ideology among the parties in the post-Soeharto era has encouraged the phenomenon of kutu loncat (hopping flea) as members can easily move among parties or set up new ones.

“The kutu loncat phenomenon is possible because parties exercise a catch-all-party policy to recruit members from a broad range of [political] views for the sake of winning an election,” says the study.

Political observers have found that most parties in Indonesia cannot afford to be an opposition because for the party to survive, it needs funds that come from aligning itself with the power. A new party that has given Indonesia’s jaded voters high hopes, the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI), has also aligned itself with Jokowi’s administration.