Political bickering in the ruling coalition — now likely stemming from the House of Representatives’ probe into the Krakatau Steel fiasco — could hamper the government’s performance in the second year of its term, according to observers.
The Democratic Party-led coalition, consisting of the Golkar Party, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the National Mandate Party (PAN), the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the United Development Party (PPP), has been proven to be ineffective in supporting the government’s reform drive, they said.
They cited the politically inspired House inquiry into the Bank Century bailout early this year that led to the resignation of then finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who was widely considered a reform icon. Golkar and PKS were among the staunch supporters of the inquiry.
After the Century scandal, it is feared that the controversy surrounding the initial public offering of state-controlled steelmaker Krakatau Steel (KS) could serve as another roadblock for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who has evaluated his ministers’ first-year performance and is rumored to be planning the first reshuffle of his second United Indonesia Cabinet.
A House working committee, supported by several coalition parties including Golkar and PAN, has been formed to probe alleged irregularities in Krakatau’s IPO.
Analysts said the company’s shares, the price of which was set by the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry at Rp 850, were undervalued, leading to allegations by politicians that the government intentionally set the price low due to pressure from politically connected businessman.
Political analyst J. Kristiadi of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) told The Jakarta Post over the weekend that such a committee could end up in vain like the one created to investigate the Century case.
The committee was formed by legislators so that they would have bargaining positions against the government, he said.
“They will demand certain facilities in return for not revealing the real findings.”
Arbi Sanit of the University of Indonesia said the widely rumored Cabinet reshuffle was likely the reason behind the alleged politicking of the Krakatau scandal.
“The condition entices coalition parties, which have representatives in the Cabinet, to attack the government so that the President will think twice before reshuffling his Cabinet,” he said.
He added that if the coalition parties continued to undermine the government, chances would be slim that the President could improve its performance and the public would pay the cost of an ineffective government.
Arbi said the country needed a stronger coalition to ensure a strong government, but he doubted the existing coalition could serve as the backbone for Yudhoyono.
“The existing coalition is built on the same interest of power sharing. If the factions in the legislature feel threaten in terms of their power, they will do anything to disrupt the government,” he said.
Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party has repeatedly failed to exert its power in the coalition, especially vis-a-vis Golkar, the second largest party in the House.
Recently, the Democratic Party politicians walked out of the House in protest of its commission on political affairs’ decision to vote on a clause in the revision to the 2007 election law that would allow politicians to become members of the poll body.
The vote, which was condemned by election watchdogs as a setback for democracy, was won by political parties — including Golkar — that supported the clause being included in the bill. The only coalition party that backed the Democratic Party’s stance to nix the controversial clause was PAN.
The weak coalition is also blamed for sluggish lawmaking. This year, legislators’ planned to deliberate 70 bills, but the House Legislation Body recorded that only 15 had been endorsed. Critics said the lawmakers spent much of their time on political bickering, including on the Century case, and overlooked their legislative tasks. (rch)
