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ven though the pressure is mounting on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to decide the fate of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and its members in the Cabinet, the Islamic party has played down the political brouhaha.

“Nothing is really happening between us [PKS and the other coalition members]. It’s just a technical difference. Every problem can be solved,” PKS president Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq said on Saturday.

According to Luthfi, no formal talks have been held between the President and PKS but they are communicating as usual.

The calls from coalition members for the President to remove the PKS from the Cabinet were just their opinions, Luthfi said, and the PKS fully respected them.

Previously, coalition members had voiced their disappointment with the PKS after it chose to side with the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the Great Indonesia Movement (Gerindra) and the People’s Conscience Party (Hanura) in opposing the government’s plan to increase subsidized-fuel prices.

Following this, the latest in PKS’ rebellious acts, leaders of the political coalition met at Yudhoyono’s home in Cikeas, West Java. After the meeting, the Joint Secretariat’s secretary Syariefuddin Hasan stated the membership of the PKS in the political coalition was over.

Syariefuddin, who is also a Democratic Party member and the cooperatives and small and medium enterprises minister, claimed the PKS had violated the coalition’s code of conduct.

Article 1 of the code of conduct states that coalition members are obliged to support and to implement government policies.

Article 5 says the members are encouraged to always find the best solution should any disagreement occur. Should the disagreement persist, the differing party must withdraw from the coalition.

However, Luthfi disagreed with Syariefuddin’s statement and said no part of the code had been breached by the party.

“The code of conduct is a communication guideline for coalition members and the Democratic Party, which was made after each party had agreed to support President Yudhoyono’s administration following the elections,” he told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

In his opinion, the PKS is no different from other coalition members.

“We want the government to play a role on the global stage, to maintain a healthy state budget and for the people to prosper. That’s basically what the PKS has done so far,” he said.

Furthermore, Luthfi denied knowing anything about a plan to replace the three PKS ministers in the Cabinet — Communications and Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring, Social Affairs Minister Salim Segaf Al Jufri and Agriculture Minister Suswono.

Rumors persist that several people have already been earmarked to replace the three ministers. They are Anindya Bakrie, the son of Golkar Party chief Aburizal Bakrie, to replace Tifatul; Marwan Jafar, National Awakening Party (PKB) chairman, to replace Salim and Jafar Hafsah, former chairman of the Democratic Party faction at the House, to replace Suswono. (tas)

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