PPP wants to renew coalition contract

The United Development Party (PPP) is suggesting renewing the coalition contract following a recent rift between parties in the coalition over a proposed tax graft inquiry committee at the House of Representatives.

“The coalition needs a more tactical contract,” the party's deputy secretary-general, M. Romahurmuziy, said Sunday, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

Coalition parties have clashed over the proposed tax graft inquiry. The Golkar Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) supported the proposal, which was eventually voted down at a plenary meeting at the House. The two parties' move to break ranks immediately drew calls from members of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party to evaluate membership in the coalition.

Romahurmuziy said the 11 provisions in the existing contract were too normative and he proposed nine additional points for a renewed contract

Among the new proposed provisions was that all coalition members be those who support the government at both the executive and legislative levels.

The proposed contract would also stipulate that every coalition member can nominate an agenda to be discussed and decided upon in a Coalition Joint Secretariat meeting. Romahurmuziy said the decision made at such a meeting would be binding on all coalition members, “unless they state themselves to have a dissenting opinion.”

The Coalition Joint Secretariat, he added, would have meetings at three hierarchical levels. The first level meetings would be presided over by the Secretariat's secretary, the second level meetings would be presided over by the managing director and the third, and highest, meetings by the Secretariat's head (President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono).

Romahurmuziy said members who dissent from the decisions made at the highest level meeting would have to accept having their membership status evaluated by the president.