The Indonesian Electoral Commission have declared that thirty-four political parties are eligible to partake in nation-wide legislative elections scheduled for April 2009, including eighteen new ones currently not represented in parliament. These will be the third parliamentary elections to take place since the fall of the dictator Soeharto in 1998, confirming Indonesia's status as the third largest democracy in the world. 

Paradoxically, the reputation of Indonesian political parties are probably at their lowest ebb since democratic elections took root  after three decades of Soeharto’s authoritarian "New Order" rule. Polls indicate that the Indonesian public, over 220 million strong, consider political parties to be corrupt vehicles for the pursuit of selfish interests by powerful elites, and have little credibility.

How is the paradox surrounding the absence of credible political parties to be explained? Not surprisingly, democratisation quickly saw the rapid establishment of new political parties after years of highly regulated political life in Indonesia. In contrast to the tame and greatly manipulated so-called five-yearly ‘festivals of democracy’ of the Soeharto era, few would dispute that Indonesia’s elections now represent genuine political contests. Nevertheless it is also clear that the euphoria of democratisation has subsided - but no one could have predicted that Indonesians would lose so much faith in the political process so quickly.

Quite naturally, political parties in any democracy often face a sceptical public. But there are arguably some distinct reasons for the particularly bad reputation that Indonesian ones have so speedily garnered. Indonesian political parties are not, as standard political theory would have it, institutions that aggregate and articulate societal interest. Instead they represent ad hoc alliances of convenience between predatory coalitions, most of which are heavily infused with corrupt New Order elements that have somehow survived. In the worst cases, and especially at the local level, they are no more than opportunistic alliances that are held together by political gangsters that the New Order had once relied upon to enforce ‘orderliness’.

Indonesian political parties can be understood as concrete manifestation of competing, diffuse and ever shifting networks of patronage. These networks are assembled by nothing less than cold hard cash – or unravel because of it. Not surprisingly, all the evidence suggests that it is getting more expensive to win political office, as huge armies of local political operators and fixers need to be kept satisfied, and as of late, costly professional campaign consultants too. During elections, money or food is also regularly distributed – Thai style - directly to Indonesia’s vast urban and rural poor, in vulgar displays of money politics.

Moreover, especially during election time, political parties function like auction houses for the rich and powerful, as contenders for political office literally purchase their support or the right to be placed on the list of legislative candidates - hoping to make use of already existing political machines. Of course, democracy can be an expensive business in other places too – but in Indonesia much of it is constituted within vast, largely amorphous networks of patronage and funded through illegal activities that help guarantee Indonesia’s place among the world’s most corrupt countries. Indonesia’s ethnic Chinese-dominated business conglomerates will continue to represent a major source of illicit funds as April 2009 fast approaches.

This does not mean that political parties do not have real social bases – in fact, several have notionally identifiable constituencies. Still, it should be no surprise that electoral contests are hardly fought on the basis of programmes or policies. They are not fought on the basis of competing political values either, as few will have a clear ideology with the exception, perhaps, of one or two of the Islamic-oriented political parties. But even these have to operate by the same logic – although the Justice and Welfare Party (PKS), which used to openly advocate the establishment of a state based on Islamic law – still manages to win kudos for its relative integrity.

The pragmatism of Indonesian political party competition is revealed when parties that are hostile to each other in the national parliament can be great confederates in region A or B, and those that are in coalition in Jakarta, may be at loggerheads in region C or D. It all seems to depend on the kind of politico-bureaucratic and business alliances that are called for under specific situations  rather than anything fundamental.

Given the highly pragmatic nature of electoral politics, even the major parties cannot count on voter loyalty. As a result, many traditional parties have suffered in key provincial elections, and must be fearing more surprises come 2009. For example, in the recent gubernatorial elections, Golkar-endorsed candidates lost in the provinces of West Java and South Sulawesi, both considered to be longtime strongholds. The PDIP (Indonesian Democratic Party for Struggle) of former President Megawati Soekarnoputri lost North Sumatra, although it was able to secure victory in its other stronghold of Central Java. The PKB (National Awakening Party) associated with former President Abdurrahman Wahid performed dismally in East Java –the province that had been its most reliable source of voter support.

Some pundits have thus come to proclaim that charismatic or popular figures are more likely to win elections. But political parties have not been superseded yet, and for good reason. Even popular personalities cannot delude themselves into ignoring the power of money  – even when one has a lot of money, it still needs to go to the right places.

Since winning elections is now big business requiring considerable investment, the idea is to recoup it while in office. Electoral defeat can be an expensive proposition. Functioning effectively as networks to mobilise the disbursement of funds and patronage, new political parties continue to sprout in Indonesia, a direct function of the burgeoning elections industry.  There is no real surprise then why so many of them seem to appear as the elections near.