Urgency of Democratization - Pillar of Democracy
Without effective leadership, competitive factionalism risks getting out of hand.
The presence of political parties in a democracy is imperative. There is no democracy without political parties. However, on the contrary, democracy can also give birth to political parties.
The intimacy of the relationship between the two is very close, their presence depends on each other; mutually "establishing" each other, but at the same time can "negate" each other because the basic principle of political parties is the foundation of democracy and the guardian of the norms of the primacy of the people\'s sovereignty, not a monolithic order.
It is no wonder that it can trigger protracted tensions, leading to internal conflicts or factionalization.
It is a vehicle that provides space for competition, differences of opinion, and even a battle for power ambitions. It is no wonder that it can trigger protracted tensions, leading to internal conflicts or factionalization.
A study on the factionalization of political parties, among others, has been done by Françoise Boucek in Rethinking Factionalism: Typologies, Internal-party Dynamics and Three Faces of Factionalism (June 2009, Queen Mary, University of London).
He divided three categories. First, cooperative factionalism. This phenomenon is associated with party formation and regime change to build consensus, a spirit of togetherness and the spirit of maintaining the identity of sub-groups so that factions can strengthen party consolidation and integration.
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Second, competitive factionalism, representing fragmented party divides. Competition is a product of the polarization of opinion resulting in centrifugal pull. As long as there is space for dialectic debate as well as two-way communication between leaders and followers; competitive factionalization is capable of enhancing the party\'s internal democracy. However, if there is too much competition and factional fragmentation, the party becomes unstable and it is difficult to make decisions. Without effective leadership, competitive factionalism risks getting out of hand.
Third, degenerative factionalism that occurs when factions have too many personal interests and excessive patronage practices based on the taste of the leaders, triggering a cycle of internal conflict that destroys party integration. The key to maintaining harmony and solidity is to design incentives according to the interests of the party to maintain an effective democratic leadership pattern. However, it is difficult to sustain because the spirit of togetherness gives in to the competitive appetite for incentives and positions.
In short, internal political parties\' conflicts are not all destructive, but there is also factionalization that can encourage the strengthening and institutionalization of political parties.
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Traces of factionalization of political parties in Indonesia have occurred since before independence. Resilient parties, such as the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Golkar Party, split like amoebas, multiplying into several political parties. In fact, some (low-performing) political parties nicknamed Nasakom (Nasib Nol Koma, referring to its low vote gain in elections) also face conflict and disintegration problem (Aisah Putri Budiarti (ed), Political Party Faction and Internal Conflict in the Reformation Era, 2019).
Therefore, the internal conflict of the Democratic Party is not surprising because it is only part of the black history of the party system, which has become increasingly oligarchic and the strengthening of patronage and political dynasties.
Leadership transformation
However, various studies have proven that factionalization is not the end of the world as long as it is managed with a spirit of togetherness and the principle of equality. The condition is that the elites, especially the top leaders, must transform their personal leadership into a collective-democratic type. Maybe this local wisdom can be used as a reminder: "Ora ono kasekten sing biso ngalahke pepesthen (no supernatural power/wizardry can beat destiny)".
He said, in political parties, there is no act of treachery or meanness of which a political party is not capable; for in politics there is no honor.
However, this intention needs to be accompanied by extra hard efforts because the political world has its own logic, as is the popular expression of Benyamin Disraeli (1804-1881). He said, in political parties, there is no act of treachery or meanness of which a political party is not capable; for in politics there is no honor.
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The democratization of political parties has become an increasingly urgent matter. Its realization must be accompanied by very strong determination and high spirit because political parties have been immersed in the rotten mud of ethical incompetence, deficit in understanding statehood and greed. The cause? The sudden democracy process. The sudden collapse of the authoritarian regime, the people are aware of their sovereignty and the need for political parties, but they do not really understand how to create a democratic state order; so they came together to set up political parties without having time to digest a lofty idea. Since the beginning of the reform movement, the main agenda for political parties has been to boost elections, starting from the central level to regional areas.
As a result, practices of elections are increasingly out of the norm because the regulations are not compiled comprehensively and ignore the principles of elections with integrity and quality. In excess, “drunken” political party cadres fight for power in elections which are getting higher and higher in frequency; especially after the introduction of simultaneous elections without fixed guideline. Consequently, systemic corrosion on the state power governance is deepening.
In the future, political parties need to strengthen institution so that they become strong organizations, cadres with character and capable of mitigating and resolving conflicts and internal party crises. Political party cadres must be trained to be brave enough to eliminate selfishness and greed in order to serve the public interest. The process of democratizing political parties can certainly be carried out because there are quite a lot of political party cadres who are stifled by their internal conditions. Political parties must return to khitah or the most basic reasoning or initial intention of political party formation that is as pillars of democracy.
J KRISTIADI, Senior Researcher, CSIS
(This article was translated by Kurniawan Siswoko).