The downfall of the Democratic Party?
Donny Syofyan, THE WRITER LECTURES AT THE FACULTY OF CULTURAL SCIENCES OF
ANDALAS UNIVERSITY, PADANG
Sumber : JAKARTA POST, 8Februari 2012
At a news conference at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) office last Friday, Abraham Samad, the country’s antigraft body chairman, named Democratic Party lawmaker Angelina Sondakh a corruption suspect. She is suspected of having illegally received gratuities.
Angelina, a member of the Budget Committee at the House of Representatives (DPR), has been implicated by another graft suspect, Muhammad Nazaruddin, and corruption convict Mindo Rosalina Manulang, as having asked for money in relation to the construction of the athletes’ village for last year’s Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Palembang, South Sumatra.
Together with I Wayan Koster, another House Budget Committee member from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Angelina has been slapped with an overseas travel ban as the investigation into the SEA Games athletes’ village corruption scandal continues.
The Democratic Party currently is under attack from its own members implicated in a number of corruption scandals. The party’s reputation and credibility are at stake, since the bribery scandals allegedly involve the party’s top brass. Looking to the bigger picture, disgraceful corruption plaguing the party is likely to bring about the downfall of the party in the approaching 2014 elections.
It is lamentable that those graft suspects represent young politicians in whom people have placed their trust for a better Indonesia, including party chairman Anas Urbaningrum, Youth and Sports Affairs Minister Andi Mallarangeng and House Budget Committee deputy chairman Mirwan Amir, all of Democratic Party. Much to many people’s surprise, the party’s tarnished image is related to scandalous acts of corruption of its considerably younger reformist figures.
As if that were not enough, those politicians are the party’s top officials. Thus, people no longer see the difference between new and old parties. Come 2014, there might be a great sense of disappointment among the Democratic Party’s voter base which, in turn, might make them switch their allegiance to more established parties, such as Golkar Party. There is no point of lending credence to new political players if they make the same if not worse mistakes as the people’s common enemy during the Soeharto administration.
Such young, reformist, and elite figures fell into corruption due to their weak ideological foundations. Scores of lawmakers and politicians of the Democratic Party are popular public figures and celebrity politicians instead of down-to-earth intellectual politicians and people of ideology.
While the former group is never long-lived and subject to crises of public confidence due to their
pragmatism, the latter group are capable of educating and enlightening the large number of the less erudite grassroots groups and floating voters.
Divides within the Democratic Party have further added to the public decline of the party’s reputation. Dissonance between party executives and members appeared in its national congress in 2010 as Anas succeeded in securing the party chairmanship.
Yet the rift did reach extreme levels due to Susilo Bambang Yudho-yono’s role as the country’s president and chief patron of the party. Now, the internal splits have intensified with bribery accusations implicating the party’s high officials.
Ruhut Sitompul’s request for Anas to step down and Marzuki Alie’s move to report two of his colleagues — Ahmad Mubarok and Raden Ajeng Ratna Suminar — to Yudhoyono for violating the party’s ethical code suggests that Democrats are suffering from a more than simple internal dynamics. The escalating schism between the party’s senior leaders not only verifies the party’s political immaturity but also its failure in leadership rejuvenation. Each party member provides a vindication of his or her argument and position. With defense mechanisms on full display, the Democrats are now in survival mode entering a harrowing period in hopes of winning seats in the upcoming election.
The divide is further traceable to a degree of irrationality in the Democratic Party. Anas became the party chairman owing to his political support; however, since he lost that political support, he has also lost his reason to remain in the post. In Japan, one must either resign or commit suicide under such circumstances.
Andi Nurpati is another case. From the very beginning, Democrats remained ignorant as she became a party member while serving as a General Elections Commission (KPU) commissioner.
She has been accused of using a forged letter to award a House seat to Dewie Yasin Limpo, from the People’s Conscience Party (Hanura), although the KPU had ruled in favor of Mestariyani Habie, from the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra). The Democratic Party opened a Pandora’s Box with the irrational cases of Anas and Andi.
As Yudhoyono will not run for the presidency in 2014, the Democrats must explore every avenue to win people’s hearts. Despite his indecisiveness, Yudhoyono has a myriad of unquestionable strengths. It is nearly impossible that the Democrats have alternative individuals with similar rallying power and selling points.
The Democratic Party may still exist for the next two or three elections, but if it fails to take action, it will lose its appeal and die by its own hand in 2014. The Democratic Party must come up with more advanced and mature dispute resolution methods and fire graft suspects to repair internal damage and restore public trust if it has any hope of survival. ●
Angelina, a member of the Budget Committee at the House of Representatives (DPR), has been implicated by another graft suspect, Muhammad Nazaruddin, and corruption convict Mindo Rosalina Manulang, as having asked for money in relation to the construction of the athletes’ village for last year’s Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Palembang, South Sumatra.
Together with I Wayan Koster, another House Budget Committee member from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Angelina has been slapped with an overseas travel ban as the investigation into the SEA Games athletes’ village corruption scandal continues.
The Democratic Party currently is under attack from its own members implicated in a number of corruption scandals. The party’s reputation and credibility are at stake, since the bribery scandals allegedly involve the party’s top brass. Looking to the bigger picture, disgraceful corruption plaguing the party is likely to bring about the downfall of the party in the approaching 2014 elections.
It is lamentable that those graft suspects represent young politicians in whom people have placed their trust for a better Indonesia, including party chairman Anas Urbaningrum, Youth and Sports Affairs Minister Andi Mallarangeng and House Budget Committee deputy chairman Mirwan Amir, all of Democratic Party. Much to many people’s surprise, the party’s tarnished image is related to scandalous acts of corruption of its considerably younger reformist figures.
As if that were not enough, those politicians are the party’s top officials. Thus, people no longer see the difference between new and old parties. Come 2014, there might be a great sense of disappointment among the Democratic Party’s voter base which, in turn, might make them switch their allegiance to more established parties, such as Golkar Party. There is no point of lending credence to new political players if they make the same if not worse mistakes as the people’s common enemy during the Soeharto administration.
Such young, reformist, and elite figures fell into corruption due to their weak ideological foundations. Scores of lawmakers and politicians of the Democratic Party are popular public figures and celebrity politicians instead of down-to-earth intellectual politicians and people of ideology.
While the former group is never long-lived and subject to crises of public confidence due to their
pragmatism, the latter group are capable of educating and enlightening the large number of the less erudite grassroots groups and floating voters.
Divides within the Democratic Party have further added to the public decline of the party’s reputation. Dissonance between party executives and members appeared in its national congress in 2010 as Anas succeeded in securing the party chairmanship.
Yet the rift did reach extreme levels due to Susilo Bambang Yudho-yono’s role as the country’s president and chief patron of the party. Now, the internal splits have intensified with bribery accusations implicating the party’s high officials.
Ruhut Sitompul’s request for Anas to step down and Marzuki Alie’s move to report two of his colleagues — Ahmad Mubarok and Raden Ajeng Ratna Suminar — to Yudhoyono for violating the party’s ethical code suggests that Democrats are suffering from a more than simple internal dynamics. The escalating schism between the party’s senior leaders not only verifies the party’s political immaturity but also its failure in leadership rejuvenation. Each party member provides a vindication of his or her argument and position. With defense mechanisms on full display, the Democrats are now in survival mode entering a harrowing period in hopes of winning seats in the upcoming election.
The divide is further traceable to a degree of irrationality in the Democratic Party. Anas became the party chairman owing to his political support; however, since he lost that political support, he has also lost his reason to remain in the post. In Japan, one must either resign or commit suicide under such circumstances.
Andi Nurpati is another case. From the very beginning, Democrats remained ignorant as she became a party member while serving as a General Elections Commission (KPU) commissioner.
She has been accused of using a forged letter to award a House seat to Dewie Yasin Limpo, from the People’s Conscience Party (Hanura), although the KPU had ruled in favor of Mestariyani Habie, from the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra). The Democratic Party opened a Pandora’s Box with the irrational cases of Anas and Andi.
As Yudhoyono will not run for the presidency in 2014, the Democrats must explore every avenue to win people’s hearts. Despite his indecisiveness, Yudhoyono has a myriad of unquestionable strengths. It is nearly impossible that the Democrats have alternative individuals with similar rallying power and selling points.
The Democratic Party may still exist for the next two or three elections, but if it fails to take action, it will lose its appeal and die by its own hand in 2014. The Democratic Party must come up with more advanced and mature dispute resolution methods and fire graft suspects to repair internal damage and restore public trust if it has any hope of survival. ●