PDI-P and the unavoidable coalition
Salvatore Simarmata ; A
political communication researcher,
A
lecturer at Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia, Jakarta
JAKARTA
POST, 12 April 2014
Far
below the expectations of many, the legislative election results may pose a
rocky trajectory for the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) for
the upcoming presidential election and subsequent government formation. A coalition
government is, sadly, unavoidable.
The
small gain of PDI-P in the April 9 election was far off the predictions of
pre-election surveys, which estimated the party’s share of the vote to hit,
at least, 20 percent thanks to Joko Widodo’s “Jokowi effect”. On the
contrary, the Jakarta governors’ “effect” did very little for the party’s
performance.
So, what
went wrong? Nothing.
What
happened was that there is no real correlation between the PDI-P as a party
and its presidential candidate Jokowi.
The
positive predictions for Jokowi’s presidential nomination were driven by the
mass media’s portrayal of Jokowi’s success story as mayor of Surakarta and
the unprecedented gubernatorial election win in Jakarta.
However,
when Jokowi appeared on TV or paid his campaign obligations to the party,
very rarely, if any, he spoke or reflected on his agenda as a presidential
candidate for the party.
In
comparison, if we look at the way the Gerindra Party’s presidential
candidate, Prabowo Subianto, campaigned we see that he positioned himself as
a presidential candidate and, despite his troubling past, spoke with specific
detail about programs concerning the economy and other national interests.
Prabowo gave voters a future reality he would fight for.
It would
be different had Jokowi been nominated, for instance, in January 2014, with
specific political messages concerning how he would run the country as a
president in every campaign or media appearances.
There is
a huge incentive for running focused and specific campaigns as voters are so
bored with the old style of politics and the crazy promises it brings.
Now that
the public has made up its mind, the PDI-P has a challenge ahead: How will
they form a coalition to win the July presidential election?
First,
the PDI-P should avoid the same coalition mistake of the incumbent party. To
do that the PDI-P should base its coalition partnership on a firm ideological
foundation with a practical governing agenda, which will include how they
will agree to appoint members of the cabinet from highly competent
professional figures instead of from party members with a million hidden
political agendas.
It
means, in a sense, the coalition should not be based on ministerial-seat
distribution but on how to work together to boost the nation’s development,
welfare of the people and prosperity through philosophical contribution,
observation, evaluation and research-based policy recommendations.
Second,
the PDI-P should avoid establishing a coalition with parties that are corrupt
in the eyes of the public. Corruption is the number one public enemy in this
country. Breaking the convention will distance the PDI-P from the impression
of a reformist party, which will certainly disappoint people. Public disappointment,
like what the Democratic Party is facing now, results in a shocking plummet
of electoral gain, in the Dems’ case from 20 percent in 2009 to only 9 in
2014.
Third,
the PDI-P should lay out a political agenda for the country for the next five
years or more. The popularity of Jokowi will not help if the political
machine backing him does not have a clear and solid political program to be
achieved when they govern. Until now, the public have not been exposed to a
thorough roadmap of the PDI-P political master plan for this nation.
Fourth,
Jokowi should start acting like a presidential candidate in a much more
optimistic posture. Giving perspective and strong political standpoint on
issues posed by journalists is highly needed and much better than avoiding it
with short phrases. Jokowi absolutely has a unique personality and style of
leadership.
However,
as a presidential candidate, Jokowi should show the public how he will solve
the problems that the public faces while setting goals as to where the nation
is heading, for instance in the context of a borderless ASEAN Economic
Community in the coming years.
Certainly,
Jokowi will not entirely handle practical economic details as he will have
ministers. But, still, people want to know how he approaches important issues
personally.
Fifth,
the PDI-P should not merely focus on forming a coalition to win the
presidential election. There is a hidden treasure in politics of how the
PDI-P could contribute to the consolidating of our democracy, which is
motivating other parties to form a parallel coalition.
By
refusing to hold a coalition with as many as possible parties, the PDI-P will
indirectly push other parties to form a coalition so they could contest the
election. In the end, we will have a much more equal contestation from all
groups of coalition.
Shortly
after the quick-count results were revealed, almost all party leaders said
they were open to all parties to form a coalition.
That
would mean nearly all the parties out of 12 will have a claim to seats in the
House of Representatives.
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