PARTY SYSTEM IN INDONESIA IN THE POST NEW ORDER: CONTESTATION OR CARTELIZATION?

This article argues that political parties in post-reformasi Indonesia have been cartelized. They were only competitive before and during the elections and not after that. This is because all parties conspired with each other to form a cartel in government. As a result, reformasi which was expected by the people to bring about a change in Indonesian politics did not happen because cartelization resulted in no opposition that could help check increasingly widespread corruption and abuse of power by the government. The question is what are the main factors that led to the emergence of cartelization and how resilience is it? This article answers this phenomenon. Assumptions presented to answer the above questions are that financial need has prompted political parties to participate in the cabinet and the leadership in parliamentary committees. Their participation in the government has got nothing to do with ideological believe or party program, but is about protecting their financial resources.