The Faults of Transactional Political Party in

Sumatera Utara Province Indonesia

Muryanto Amin

Department of Political Science, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Indonesia

Keywords: Political Party, Transitional, Democracy, and Political Office

Abstract: Political parties in Indonesia are the most important part on consolidating democracy in the diverse local level.

The management of issues carried out by political parties faces different challenges, and must comply with

democratic principles such as accountability, equality, and justice. If there is an error in managing a political

party, it will have a negative impact on the citizens' agreement about the consolidation of democracy. This

study selects its data source from key informants based on their knowledge, such as the leaders of political

parties, academics, and community leaders. The findings explain that political parties in North Sumatra have

not been fully managed to meet the principles of democracy. The pattern of recruitment, regeneration, and

assignments in public positions conducted by political parties is still transactional. The recruitment is based

on popularity and the ownership of funds. This pattern results in a number of cadres proposed for the public

officials who do not have good technical and moral qualifications. The management model of democratic

political parties that meets the requirements of accountability, equality, and justice still faces cultural and

regulatory obstacles.

1 INTRODUCTION

The big challenge for political parties in Indonesia

nowadays is recruiting cadres and training them to

have the ability when placed in political office. The

political party's activities have not been carried out

properly due to the dependency on the central

management in Jakarta and the funding originating

from the state. Various studies explain that related to

the management of modern political parties there are

still many shortcomings, namely the lack of

recruitment, regeneration, the placement of the cadres

in political office. A research conducted by Amin

shows that the majority of political parties do not have

structured and systematic regeneration documents,

furthermore the financial management are mostly not

from the party contributions, instead are non-binding

donations from cadres who have served in certain

political office. In addition, the legislative election

system and regional head elections directly

exacerbated the regeneration process, recruitment,

and political party finance (Amin, 2017).

The findings of the study explain that the reality

of the community has an assumption that all decisions

of political parties lie in the policies of the central

management and not because of the ability of the

cadres of political parties. As a result of the said

political party's policy, the interest of the community

to participate is reduced so that the quality of political

decisions is far from the hopes of the people to

improve their daily lives. Kalua’s statement of

political parties is the main key in carrying out

democratic consolidation so that the principle of

representation can be implemented (Kalua, 2011) has

not been proven in practice. Although there is also

broad agreement that political parties play an

important role in the consolidation of democracy,

there is little agreement on the types of qualities that

a party must possess (Randall & Svasand, 2002). The

role of political parties in Indonesia has often been

replaced with civil society organizations to improve

the quality of democracy in Indonesia. Hadi

concludes that civil society groups currently have

adequate capacity and are able to have a positive

influence on managing state relations and civil

society (Hadi, 2010). These groups then become a

patron (indirectly) for the growth of new civil society

groups, such as the ability in organizational

management, funding management, and network

capacity with institutions on a national and

international level (Gomez & Tonge, 2016). Through

the influence and role carried out, democratization in

422

Amin, M.

The Faults of Transactional Political Party in Sumatera Utara Province Indonesia.

DOI: 10.5220/0010055504220426

In Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Social and Political Development (ICOSOP 3 2019) - Social Engineering Governance for the People, Technology and Infrastructure in

Revolution Industry 4.0, pages 422-426

ISBN: 978-989-758-472-5

Indonesia is inseparable from the significant role of

the civil society.

The phenomenon of managing undemocratic

political parties also occurred in North Sumatra. The

lack of government achievements and the rampant

corruption cases that occur in North Sumatra are

thought strongly as a part of why the function of a

political party is not running well. Meanwhile, North

Sumatra is the third largest province outside Java and

has a history of industrial progress since the colonial

period. However, since the reform of the regional

head election system in 2004, North Sumatra has very

few innovative records of development

achievements. In contrast, the corruption incident by

the governor and members of the Sumatera Utara

Provincial Parliament after the elections of regional

heads in 2004. The governor elected in elections in

2008 and in 2013 is convicted of corruption. The

members of the Sumatera Utara Provincial

Parliament for the 2009-2013 period as many as 57 of

the 100 people are decided by the court for

committing a criminal act of corruption. The political

office is a cadre of political parties who have a very

important role in determining democratic public

decisions and produce the welfare of the local

community. The assumption that causes these events

is that political parties have not been managed

democratically as development institutions.

The internal system built by political parties has

not fully produced measurable democratic

performance including recruitment mechanisms,

cadre education, as well as the placement of cadres in

political office (Bader, 2014). The three types of

political party activities will determine the quality of

political party products. The low performance of local

governments in North Sumatra reflects that political

parties have not been managed democratically and

modern. This paper will outline the ways in which

politicians manage political parties that are very

minimal in meeting the democratic requirements in

North Sumatra. So that it is expected from the

activities of recruitment, regeneration, and placement

of cadres in political office carried out democratically

so that the consolidation of democracy in North

Sumatra will be deepened.

2 RESEARCH METHOD

The method used is qualitative and data collection

through 1) in-depth interviews with key and

additional informants, 2) limited group discussions

with elite political parties, academics, government

elements, and community representatives, 3)

observations of the activities carried out by political

parties. Moreover, secondary data is obtained from

political party documents that become a reference in

conducting programs. The data obtained were

analysed using typology or compile the data

acquisition categories, confirmed by triangulation.

The analysed data will be compiled in the form of

research reports to reach the output of research,

namely the management model of modern political

parties, lecture modules, and books.

3 RESULT AND DISCUSSION

As the strategic role of political parties that have been

stated previously, political parties become the

instruments to strengthen democracy in the context of

the circulation of political power, on the national and

local levels. In an effort to carry out the circulation of

power, political parties carry out the recruitment

process as a mechanism for selecting cadres who will

be placed in a certain political office. The political

recruitment model carried out by the party is an

indicator of measuring democracy. Political

recruitment identifies the form of the party, whether

it is a program party or just an electoral party or even

becomes a cartel party controlled by a handful of

elites and entrepreneurs.

According to the context of political recruitment

for the legislature in North Sumatra, there are several

issues in political parties that have the potential to

disrupt the development of democracy. First, the

proportional electoral system enshrines the

dominance of the oligarchy in the recruitment

process. Elite parties in the regions are very powerful

in the recruitment process, which determines who

will occupy the first or last sequence number.

However, the pattern of the elite oligarchy is not

democratic but tends to maintain very closed

corruption, collusion, and nepotism practices. Even

though the electoral system is no longer based on the

sequence number, but on the most votes and / or those

who get the Voter Divider Number (Voter Divider

Numbers/BPP), but the position of the sequence

number is very decisive for the community and also

the calculation when no one gets the BPP number.

Second, in the recruitment process a good linkage

between political parties and the civil society is not

built. Civil society is only viewed numerically as a

number, not as a constituent that must be respected

and fought for. Various community organizations are

only placed as an under the bow, a political machine

that mobilizes the masses, not as a basis for the

struggle of the political parties. Conversely, activists

The Faults of Transactional Political Party in Sumatera Utara Province Indonesia

423

from community organizations do not see political

parties as part of a social movement to influence the

policy and control the state, but only as a "political

vehicle" to gain power. As a result, the

parliamentarians are only oriented to power and

wealth. Not a few of Provincial Parliament members

ignore the forums or extra-parliamentary

participation because they claim that the Provincial

Parliament is the most legitimate representative

institution and that participation is not regulated in

regional laws or regulations

Third, in the recruitment process, political parties

often apply the "take away" approach to candidates

who are seen as "political machines". This approach

tends to ignore the legitimacy aspects, commitment,

capacity, as well as the fight. Ex-soldiers and officials

are selected not because they have visions, but

because they have remnants of the power network.

Entrepreneurs are recruited because they had a lot of

money and could be used effectively for various

purposes ranging from mobilization funds to money

politics. Celebrities are chosen because they have

many fans. Preachers are also recruited because they

have followers of traditional times. Political parties

easily take community leaders, intellectuals, or

academics on campus who pursue power and want to

utilize the party as a way for vertical mobility.

Another problem in the recruitment of political

parties in North Sumatra, both for the legislature and

executive is the lack of regeneration in the political

party. This resulted in the parties often importing

cadres who are able to become party leaders without

a clear regeneration process. The aim is only related

to electoral value, money, and influence. Almost all

political parties carry out a figure recruitment

program. Figure recruitment is intended to prevent

the party from losing voters. A number of political

parties in North Sumatra openly recruit leaders and

there are also several political parties that do it in

private. Figure recruitment is carried out with open

and closed models, for example, Hanura makes an

announcement for the figure recruitment openly,

while PDIP recruits their figures in private. The

recruitment process of political parties in North

Sumatra does seem to be carried out only as part of

the process of implementing the functions of the

parties. The measurement used is more focused on

one's character as well as financial ability. Political

costs are exorbitant in every political activity, both

legislative and executive, so it is not surprising for

political parties to consider the cadres and figures

who have sufficient financial power.

Fourth, the electoral process and recruitment

process work in the context of a less educated and

critical "floating mass". So far, the community has not

received political education, especially from political

parties, resulting in millions of traditional voters who

are very vulnerable to mobilization practices.

Political parties do not play an adequate role in giving

political education to the public. Up until now most

of the people of Indonesia are the silent majority, who

are calm, apathetic (ignorant), and not critical in

facing the political process. As a result, the

participatory political culture (civic culture) has not

been built. Such conditions certainly do not allow for

an open and participatory recruitment process (Dalton

& Kuechler, 1990).

Current cadres recruitment carried out by political

parties in North Sumatra is also carried out by taking

cadres from the wing of the party organization, both

men and women, as well as other party wings. This is

performed by considering the efficiency of the party's

work in recruiting cadres, also related to a more

minimal party funding if the recruited cadres come

from the existing party wing. In general, the political

recruitment system in almost all political parties in

North Sumatra, both for the legislature and executive,

has not fulfilled the principles of democracy and has

not been regulated using modern management.

Political parties do not yet have clear and rigid

recruitment manuals governing how recruitment is

carried out. For some political parties, such as Golkar

and PDIP, which own a recruitment and regeneration

module, at the stage of its implementation, it is not

carried out consistently and with a strong

commitment. This is of course very detrimental to the

development of democracy on the local level, as well

as on a national level.

Since the regional election in 2005, recruitment by

political parties for regional head positions tends to

be carried out exclusively limited to local elites who

are considered to have a high popularity and strong

funding. Transactional recruitment also occurs in the

recruitment of regional head political positions. There

is no exception whether the candidate is a party cadre

or not, the transactional process occurs for all

candidates, both party cadres and non-cadres. The

decision on candidates who carried out in regional

head elections are also in the management of the

central political parties, this often results in

differences of opinion between party managers on a

regional level and the central management. However,

despite these differences of opinion, the decisions of

the central management cannot be contested by the

regional administration. This condition resulted in the

frequent process of determining the candidates to be

carried out by political parties to be determined by

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patron-client factors between political elites and

businessmen.

When recruiting the legislators on the regional

level, both provincial and district/city, it is carried out

closely and limited to local political elites. In this

process, it is often found that legislative candidates

are not the cadres of political parties. Most candidates

who are not cadres are figures who have strong

funding sources, usually, they are entrepreneurs who

are not active in political parties. Besides, there are

also figures from other sectors, such as preachers and

community leaders who are considered to be able to

become vote-getters. Transactional practices also

occur in the process of recruiting these legislators. It

is not uncommon to find conflicts between cadres of

political parties and administrators related to the

struggle for the sequence number of legislative

candidates. Not infrequently, determining the

sequence number also done transactional. The cadres

of political parties often do not get the best sequence

number due to the transactional process.

Forms of regeneration are influenced by the

developed party system and the electoral system.

However, whichever the system is, in regeneration,

there are two important issues. First, how the efforts

made by the organization to increase the ability of

both skills and knowledge. Second, is the ability to

provide cadres, especially the youth. Regeneration in

the political party aims to create cadres of nation-state

leaders and the party cadres must also be able to play

their role as creators who are able to place the

existence of the party in the community.

The cadre system of political parties in Indonesia

has different characteristics from one party to

another, according to the rules that have been

determined by the party. In its implementation, turns

out that many parties are unable to implement

rigorous and ideological regeneration. This was

evidenced by the many party cadres who "jumped"

from one party to another when the general election

arrived. Political parties in North Sumatra in general,

are still constrained with the problem of the absence

of a rigid regeneration system and consistent

implementation by political parties. Even if the

regeneration method documents exist, the problems

with the implementation related to party

infrastructure on a provincial level are minimal, as

well as the constraints on financing issues. The field

findings in this study also indicate that the

regeneration program carried out by political parties

through party schools and party training does not

produce maximum output. The activities seemed to

be implemented only to fulfill the party's formal

program.

Placing cadres in political office or called the

candidacy process, as happened in the regional head

elections in the district/city of North Sumatra

Province, displays a process that precipitated the

consolidation of democracy on a local level. The

tendency of practices that hinder the democracy

occurs like the first, the indications of unreduced

money politics or the "surrender of dowry" in

candidate in political parties and individual

candidates and multiple candidate conflicts occur in

several regions. Second, dynastic politics occurs with

the characteristic of the emergence of candidates who

do not have enough capacity as the candidates for

regional heads. Third, the emergence of a single

candidate with their main motive is "buying" the party

to make it easier to win the most votes.

Observing that the role of political parties in the

simultaneous candidacy of the regional election is

very urgent and strategic, especially with the failure

of independent candidates to gain votes from regional

voters, the success of candidates who have the quality

and competence is highly dependent on the

nomination process by political parties, which is more

democratic or putting forward the pragmatism.

Pragmatism can be indicated here, first, if political

parties make the aspect of popularity and the capital

strength of candidates as the main consideration to

bring the candidates rather than the quality and

competence. Second, if the political parties do the

selection and nomination without transparency and

close themselves to other aspirations even though the

said aspirations come from their own internal cadres.

4 CONCLUSION AND

SUGGESTION

The majority of political parties do not have

structured and systematic documents. The electoral

system in the legislature and local election

exacerbates the birth of a system of regeneration,

recruitment, and placement of cadres in political

parties. The end result of the regeneration process of

political parties is the availability of cadres of

political parties to fill public positions. In this context,

the regeneration of political parties is not a stand-

alone mechanism. Many variables affect the pattern

of political parties carrying out their internal

regeneration. The electoral system, party system, and

the type or pattern of political parties influence the

political parties in managing its regeneration.

Therefore, political parties must provide plenty of

cadres to fulfill the quota.

The Faults of Transactional Political Party in Sumatera Utara Province Indonesia

425

The regeneration pattern of political parties will

succeed if there is an integrated institutional system.

Various issues regarding training institutions,

curriculum, teaching materials that are professionally

designed, the requirements, target audience that are

right on target, the existence of a monitoring and

evaluation system, the qualifications of teachers, and

sufficient funding. The linkage of recruitment,

regeneration, and placement cadres in public

positions in the executive and legislative positions is

an integral part. The formulation of these three must

be carried out consistently and continuously as well

as the availability of an adequate monitoring and

evaluation mechanism. In addition, giving awards

and punishments to cadres who have achievements

and violate discipline is an integral part of creating a

modern political party. All of that can only be

achieved if there is a commitment from the top of the

political party leaders.

Removing money politics during the internal

process of political parties, such as recruitment,

regeneration, political party funding, and

transparency in the cadre proposal of political parties

for political office has not been carried out properly.

So there needs to be an effort to implement consistent

rules and sanctions for political parties that do not

carry out the political process internally. It needs to

be considered so that political parties have adequate

and transparent and equitable funding mechanisms to

fulfill democratic requirements. The selection and

nomination process of candidates by political parties

must be required to be transparent and accountable by

obtaining direct supervision from voters as the

holders of sovereignty. Pre-candidacy activities such

as conventions and debate events ahead of

nomination not only need to be civilized but need to

be included explicitly in the nominating technical

regulations.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author would like to thank the Ministry of

Research and Higher Education for the provided

facilities through the Decentralization Research

Competition scheme.

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