Political Parties

The New Order Government inherited the state’s traumatic experience with political parties and this has strongly affected its attitude towards such parties. In the 1950s, the government was under parliamentary system which suffered badly from political instability, which included regional rebellions. In that period of “Liberal Democracy” (1950-59), Indonesia had about fifty parties competing with one another on the basis of ethnicity and primordialism. No Cabinet lasted for more than six months because of the absence of a majority party. There was also suspicion in the regions that the centre had too much power in their hands, leaving only limited autonomy to the regions. Furthermore, the rapid development of the Communist Party caused anxiety among other parties and the majority of army leaders at the regional and local levels. These two factors, among others, were behind the regional rebellions during 1957-60 in West Sumatra and Sulawesi. 

When Soeharto took office in 1966, his attitude towards the role of political parties was a reflection of the earlier political trauma. The victory of Golkar (which is strongly supported by the military) in the 1971 elections (the first elections held in the New Order era) put the government in a good position to propose new political regulations. In 1973, the government reduced the number of political parties from ten to three through amalgamation. Some Islamic-based parties were grouped into the PPP while the nationalist, Christians and Catholics were grouped into the PDI. 

Soon, it became clear that forced regrouping like this would create serious internal conflicts among the parties. The traditional Muslim groups have always been in conflict with the modernist Muslims in the PPP, while the nationalists have always failed to come to agreement with the Christians and the Catholics in the PDI. Internal conflicts have also occurred in PPP and PDI party conferences, and this has usually invited the intervention of the government. The frequent conflicts have become a factor in the failure of the parties to consolidate or strengthen their organizations, while the government has steadily accumulated power through its party machinery, Golkar. 

Most parties have become very dependent on the government for several reasons. For example, financially, the parties would not be able to conduct party congresses or election campaigns without massive aid from the government. Thus, the government has easily dictated policies to the parties and exerted much influence on leadership selection within the parties. There is little chance for the parties to select their own leaders without the agreement of the government. 

The PPP and PDI have had difficult times in trying to raise funds from businessmen because their election prospects are uncertain. The public are unsure of the benefit they can obtain from their donations to the parties. Intellectuals also have the same question in mind when they are approached by the parties. Support for Golkar on the other hand is ample because it has the ability to provide facilities and protection to businessmen and even positions in the government for intellectuals who support it. 

As noted earlier, since 1987 there have been changes in the attitude of businessmen and intellectuals. Some of them have begun to support, and get involved in, the management of the PPP and the PDI with the aim of defeating Golkar in the cause of democracy. However, their numbers are still small and it is likely they will not grow significantly in size by the time of the next elections in 1997.

(Continued on title : "The Issue of Human Rights")