http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/politics/democrats-discontent-rises-with-golkar-pks/425826
Democrats' Discontent Rises With Golkar, PKS Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Anita Rachman | March 01, 2011 J. Kristiadi, a political analyst from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says a cabinet reshuffle would be inviting trouble for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, pictured. "Yudhoyono won't have the courage to open Pandora's box," he said. (EPA Photo) Frustrated Democratic Party officials say they will not stop pushing the president to expel troublesome members of its ruling coalition even though they know there is little chance of it ever happening. The Democrats' secretary general, Saan Mustopha, said on Monday that a report on the performance of coalition partners in the House of Representatives showed how inconsistent the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and Golkar Party had been in supporting the government. "Like in the latest voting over the tax mafia inquiry proposal, the Bank Century special inquiry, deponering of Bibit and Chandra, the banning of Bibit and Chandra - the difference between us and the two parties is too severe," said Saan, who is also secretary of the party's faction in the House. The evaluation report will be submitted to the Democratic Party's national leadership board as well as President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra M. Hamzah are the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy chairmen who were barred by a House commission from attending hearings in a move widely seen as a retaliation for the KPK arresting lawmakers implicated in the Miranda Goeltom bribery scandal. Ten Golkar members have been detained, while the wife of a PKS legislator is also believed to be involved. Golkar and the PKS have also been staunch critics of the government's 2008 bailout of Bank Century, and helped push for a probe into graft at the tax office, a move that the Democrats claim is political maneuvering to corner the government. "Golkar and PKS always take a different stance from us - it's always the Democrats with PAN and PKB, and sometimes with PPP," Saan said, referring to three other members of the coalition, the National Mandate Party (PAN), National Awakening Party (PKB) and United Development Party (PPP). He said at least one cabinet minister, either from the PKS or Golkar, should be forced to step down. The replacement, he said, could come from Prabowo Subianto's Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), which has been warming up to the Democrats since it voted alongside the ruling party to reject the tax mafia inquiry proposal. A group of young Democrats also held a press conference on Monday to call for the replacement of two cabinet ministers from the PKS: Communications Minister Tifatul Sembiring and Agriculture Minister Suswono. "The government would be more effective and could produce more productive ideas" if the coalition was more harmonious, said M. Ikhsan Modjo, who spoke on behalf on the group. Separately, Marzuki Alie, a senior Democrat and House speaker, called for a new law to regulate the dysfunctional political compact. "A coalition should always vote as one, but that doesn't happen in our system, especially in the legislature," he said. "This kind of situation will always disrupt the government's performance." But Saan acknowledged that it was unlikely that the president would heed their request. "I am sure the president has many things to take into consideration. He must think what's best for the country," he said. "But we feel you can see how tired we are in dealing with certain coalition members in the legislature." Political analysts and insiders have said that Golkar is too big a party to lose for Yudhoyono. The PKS, on the other hand, has less political leverage in the coalition. J. Kristiadi, a political analyst from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the difficulty for Yudhoyono was that a cabinet reshuffle would be inviting trouble. "[Yudhoyono] won't have the courage to open Pandora's box," he said. "It's all about political hostages. Opening the box means revealing all the faults." Kristiadi said he doubted the president would listen to his party members' calls, an observation backed by Burhanuddin Muhtadi, a political analyst from the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI). "So far, [Yudhoyono] doesn't seem to listen to the Democrats," he said. But Burhanuddin said that while the president weighed his options, he risked sending a message to other coalition members that they were free not to toe the government line. Further, by insisting to keep both parties in the coalition, Yudhoyono embarrassed Democrat chairman Anas Urbaningrum, he said. Marzuki, however, said Yudhoyono had been responsive to their concerns over the matter. "He listens to us. But maybe he has some [other] considerations," he said. "It is not right if people say that the president doesn't listen to us. We are the ones who should know, not others." Burhanuddin said it was time for the president to prove that he listened to his party by acting on the Golkar and PKS issue. "My prediction is that one of them will be removed from the coalition," he said. Golkar and the PKS, meanwhile, have maintained that their coalition contract is with the president, not the Democrats. "Because we established the coalition with SBY, if we are to be dismissed, he must do it himself," said PKS secretary general Anis Matta, who added that the president had never raised the issue with his party. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
