Kalla hints at leaving SBY for 2009 race

Desy Nurhayati ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sun, 08/03/2008 10:57 PM  |  National

Vice President Jusuf Kalla indicated Saturday that he would seek to stay in power after the 2009 presidential election, but not necessarily with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Kalla was speaking at the opening of the three-day national consolidation meeting of the Nationhood Democratic Party (PDK), a minor political group led by former state minister for administrative reforms Ryaas Rasyid, in an apparent bid to solicit support for his future political ambitions.

"After the reform era, Habibie served as president for only one-and-a-half years, followed by Gus Dur for two years, when Ryaas and I served as cabinet ministers, and Megawati Soekarnoputri for three years," Kalla said.

"Hopefully five years of Yudhoyono-Kalla is enough, meaning I could serve longer. But it depends on the PDK."

His remarks drew applause from the 1,500 PDK members in attendance.

The current administration will end its five-year term in 2009. Rumors are rife of a split between the President and his deputy ahead of the upcoming presidential election, with Yudhoyono and Kalla conceivably set to compete for the same post.

However, Kalla did not say whether he would contest the presidential or vice presidential election next year.

Kalla, who also chairs the Golkar Party -- the country's largest party -- called on PDK members to carry out fair practices in next year's elections, which will feature 34 political parties.

"Whatever the parties, all have the same objective, which is to bring prosperity to the people. The difference lies in their respective ways of achieving this," he said.

"To achieve the goal, every party, including the PDK, expects to be a part of the government by securing seats at the House of Representatives. And I am sure we can accomplish this by working together. No one wants to be an opponent because that would be unfortunate."

Ryaas Rasyid said the PDK was honored to have Kalla present at the meeting.

"The Vice President's presence has contributed much to our meeting today," Ryaas told supporters after Kalla left the venue.

"His explanation of the administration's achievements over the past four years is very important for us to set up our strategies to compete with the ruling powers in the upcoming elections.

"We should appreciate the government's attempt to raise public optimism, including its claims on poverty. There's no such thing as an absolute truth or interpretation in politics."

"We should also appreciate the government's confessions it has been slow to develop the electricity infrastructure, which can't cope with the country's rapid economic growth," he added.

"Kalla says the electricity crisis is a consequence of the rapid growth, but I think that's not a valid excuse."

He said the PDK was confident of garnering 10 percent of votes in the 2009 legislative elections, because it had managed to gather more supporters after four parties, which failed the verification process, declared their allegiance to the PDK.

The four parties in question are the Prosperity Party, the Indonesian Diversity Party, the Nusantara Parade Party and the Populace Party.

As one of 16 parties with House seats, the PDK is allowed to contest the elections without having to go through the verification process.

The party, previously called the Nationhood Democratic Unity Party, failed to meet the 3 percent minimum needed to secure House seats in the 2004 elections. It currently has four representatives in the House.

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