Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri, continues to be at odds with the party’s chief patron Taufik Kiemas, also her husband, over a coalition proposal with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party.
Megawati is determined to maintain the party’s opposition stance, while Taufik cannot be budged on his belief the party should become part of the government coalition.
Taufik has said publicly many times that he thinks it is now the right time for his party to form an “ideological alliance” with the Democratic Party, the PDI-P’s old foe.
“I think they are tired of losing and if everyone is in opposition, how will we expect the government to work?”
In response, Megawati said that Taufik had the right to his opinion, but his position as the chief patron did not give him the right to vote to determine the party’s future stance at the upcoming party congress, scheduled to take place in Bali from April 6 to April 9.
Taufik said Monday that his idea to establish a coalition with the Democratic Party, was based on sentiments rising from his party at the grass-roots level.
“I would not dare raise the idea unless there was support from the grass-roots,” he told reporters at the House of Representatives.
Taufik also said that he had discussed this issue directly with his wife.
“The chairwoman said the upcoming congress would decide the matter and I think that is the right action to take,” he said.
Taufik, however, could not provide a clear measurement on how much support the idea had at the party’s grassroots, but said he was confident his ideas would be raised at the congress, despite the inevitable reappointment of his wife as the party chairwoman.
“There is no time to conduct a survey. I only received the wishes from the grassroots and decided to raise the issue,” he said.
“All I can say is that I believe all congress participants are smart enough to know what is good. I think they are tired of losing and if everyone is in opposition, how will we expect the government to work?” he added, referring to the PDI-P’s latest defeat in the past two presidential elections.
“At the very least, Pram [PDI-P secretary-general Pramono Anung] and Tjahjo [PDI-P caucus chairman at the House, Tjahjo Kumolo] agree with the idea,” he said further.
Previously, Tjahjo said that Yu-dhoyono had better “revise” his coalition bloc following the apparent recent fallout over the Bank Century bailout case, in which three coalition partners decided to take a different stance from that of the Democratic Party.
Democratic Party secretary-general Amir Syamsuddin, said the idea was “interesting”, but that his party would wait for the PDI-P’s official announcement.
One of Yudhoyono’s expert staff, Heru Lelono, also said the possibility the PDI-P would join the Democratic Party was more than 90 percent.
Separately, Pramono said that all ideas from party members regarding the party’s future political stance must be appreciated and respected.
“What TK [Taufik] has been saying recently is part of democracy,” he told reporters at the House on Monday.
Pramono also said that he thought that some elements in the PDI-P had gained little benefit from playing the opposition role in the last government term.
“We have learned that being in opposition does not help the party’s flexibility,” he said.
Pramono said that it would be better for his party to play the role of equal partner with the Democratic Party. “A partner that aims at building communication on strategic issues,” he said.
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